Haumole Olakau’atu goes public with startling claim after Spencer Leniu's NRL ban

Manly star Haumole Olakau’atu has given an eye-opening take on the Spencer Leniu racism storm after revealing that he has been called a "coconut" numerous times on the footy field. Leniu was on Monday night slapped with an eight-week ban at the NRL Judiciary after pleading guilty to calling Brisbane's Indigenous five-eighth a "monkey".

Leniu has been adamant he didn't use the term in a racist way and told the judiciary he thought he was "one brown man saying something to another brown man", not realising the racial connotations of the term. When asked at the judiciary, the Roosters star admitted he had never heard of Sydney Swans legend Adam Goodes, who was called an ape by a 13-year-old girl during the AFL's Indigenous round in 2013.

Goodes asked for security to remove the girl from the SCG, which led to him being booed by opposition fans before he eventually retired in 2015. The AFL later admitted it didn't do enough to support Goodes and should have done more to stop the booing, with the Swans and Indigenous icon going on to be a powerful voice against racism.

Haumole Olakau’atu not familiar with Adam Goodes

Just like Leniu said he'd never heard of Goodes or been aware of his fight against racism, Manly star Olakau’atu offered similar sentiments. “Sorry man, I don’t know who that is, I don’t know who Adam Goodes is, sorry,” Olakau’atu said. “Obviously we do know somewhat of the history of the Aboriginals in this land. For him (Leniu) saying that word, me personally I didn’t think it was that big of a thing until that happened.”

Manly star not offended by racial terms

The Manly back-rower - who is of Polynesian background - backed up Leniu's assertions that many of the players of colour call each other names like "blacky" and "monkey" at training without thinking anything of it. “We do use those words [Leniu mentioned] for banter, and for a laugh, we don’t use it for anything else, or have any emotions behind it,” Olakau’atu said.

“I’ve been called everything on the field, but it’s just words to me – I’ve been called 'coconut' many times in the NRL. Bro, anyone. It’s part of the game, it’s the heat of the moment, and at the end of the day they don’t really mean it.

"It’s just words to me. It will happen when you have a scuffle ... I got called that growing up in school. You get used to it. It’s just words. I hope he [Leniu] gets this message. I hope he is doing well mentally.”

While Olakau’atu and Leniu might not find such words or terms offensive, the reality is they are offensive for many Indigenous Australians and people of colour around the world. The fact Indigenous sporting stars Latrell Mitchell and Anthony Mundine clashed over whether Leniu's slur was racist highlights how divisive the saga has been around the country.

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Haumole Olakau’atu thinks Spencer Leniu ban was too big

The length of Leniu's ban has also come under fire in some quarters, with NRL legend Johnathan Thurston among those to insist eight weeks was too light. Thurston suggested Leniu's ban should have been at least 12 weeks, with Olakau’atu on the other side of the fence after arguing it was too severe.

“Was the eight weeks for [Leniu] too long? For me, personally, yes. It was way too long. At the end of the day he apologised, right? He got charged. That is it," the Manly star said. "Four weeks would have been more than enough. You don’t know what’s going through his head now.

“Spencer said what he said, he didn’t mean it, and I believe him. I can see where he’s coming from [in his belief that terms were not racist]. We do know some of the history of the Aboriginals on this land. For him to say that word, I didn’t think it was that big of a thing until it happened.”

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