“I apologised to Bailey Dale on Monday and I want to publicly apologise again for the stress my actions have caused.

“I say things from time-to-time on the footy field in the heat of the moment that I wish I didn’t, and I’m continuing to work with the club on managing this moving forward.

“It’s not in my true nature or character to say those things and I apologise for any distress I cause to individuals or their families.”

The Power goalsneak, who took part in training on Wednesday night, spent two hours on Wednesday afternoon being quizzed by the AFL as part of a reopened probe into his on- and off-field interactions with opponents.

Rioli’s decision to withdraw from the Showdown was his alone, and not prompted by the Power – according to club sources speaking on the condition of anonymity. According to the club, he was mentally drained by the saga that arose from the reopening of the investigation, following reports of him allegedly verballing Geelong and Essendon players.

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The Power had been optimistic Rioli would play on Saturday night.

The AFL did not punish Rioli on Monday for his alleged threatening message to a Western Bulldogs player directed to that player’s teammate, Dale, after last weekend’s game, but re-opened the case after a second case, revealed by this masthead, came to light on Tuesday afternoon.

The Power and Bulldogs dealt with the matter privately on Monday, in consultation with the AFL, and there was no sanction for Rioli. But then two further claims of threats by Rioli against emerged which the league had no knowledge about.

Separately on Wednesday, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon met club bosses and implored them to inform the league in the future when such allegations emerge against players, telling them the league could not act on incidents it had no knowledge of.

This masthead revealed on Tuesday that Rioli was alleged to have threatened a Cats player during a round nine game last year, while a report on Nine, which owns this masthead, on Tuesday night claimed Rioli had also used violent language towards a Bombers player in a game this year.

Port said Rioli made a “significant error” with his post-game message but emphasised he was not the first player to make idle threats on the field. Power chairman David Koch and said the club was “incredibly angry” with Rioli about the online message, but said there was an important difference between on- and off-field comments.

Koch and Power footy boss Chris Davies also said on Wednesday that the significant racial abuse aimed at Rioli over long periods was important context to Rioli’s behaviour.

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