AFLPA president Patrick Dangerfield has confirmed he’s reached out to Carlton’s Eddie Betts after he was racially abused on social media last week.
Betts opened up on the toll the abuse has taken on him in recent years during an in-depth interview on AFL 360 on Tuesday night.
The 33-year-old admitted the constant battle against online trolls made him question his place in the game.
“It was tough,” Betts said of the abuse.
“I found out that tweet came out and then I actually wasn't going to post it up to be honest, I thought what’s going to happen, do I have to deal with it again the stress?
“It’s just tiring, just fighting fighting fighting every year. The last six years over in Adelaide I’ve been racially abused every year online, I had a banana thrown at me and quite frankly I’m getting sick and tired of it.
“It just drains you, you kind of think, ‘Why am I playing footy?’ and then I think to myself, ‘I need to let people know what I’m going through’.
Even with the current restrictions preventing face-to-face contact, Dangerfield said it was imperative he personally voiced his support for the Blues fan favourite.
“I wanted to say to him that I was there for him face to face rather than over a phone call,” Dangerfield said on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“Given the restrictions with everything at the moment and me being in Geelong and him in Melbourne, I just decided to be there as his mate.
“I know he’s had to deal with this s--t for his entire life and it’s just crap, he doesn’t want his kids to have to go through it and I don’t want his kids to have to go through it.
“We just all need to be better and I don’t understand how people get off by this sort of commentary, it’s just so disappointing.
“I just wanted to be there for him as a mate, he was extraordinary viewing (on AFL 360) last night and he was so well articulated.
“What Eddie Betts has done for our game, we’re all indebted.”