3AW commentator Tony Shaw contacted Kevin Sheedy earlier today to apologies for the comments he made about Dean Rioli on 3AW yesterday. Shaw commented on Rioli's weight and suggested he received preferential treatment because of his Aboriginality. ""It was pretty personal. He rang me today to apologise and I said - ""don't ring me, ring Rioli"". In regards to selecting players because they are aboriginal or any where near that sort of comment - I would be offended. In Dean's situation he is still one of our better players, ahead of the players in the reserves - it is as simply as that. Tony (Shaw) probably wouldn't know that because he is busy working on his radio and he would not have seen many VFL games. He will learn that, the more experienced he gets as a commentator,"" Sheedy said.

Q. What was his (Shaw's) explanation?
A. He did apologise for saying what he did about Dean's weight. I said you talk to him about that and here is his mobile number.

Q. Do you think he will call him?
A. I would think he would. He is pretty straight down the line - Tony Shaw.

Q. Do you think Rioli is carrying excess weight?
A. He has always been solid. Tony Lockett was solid, Doug Wade (Fat-Cat) was solid and what was Jason Dunstall's nickname? Sometimes people that are big have power to kick goals and sometimes they are as good as any skinny person. I think a lot of people forget that.

Q. Given Michael Long's new role at the AFL, will you be speaking to him about how these sorts of situations need to be handled?
A. I think that the players association will do that and Michael may. The situation is - you don't treat 22 members of your team the same anyway. I can honestly say I would not have treated Van der Haar the same as I treated Tim Watson and Watson the same as I treated Van der Haar - they are different people. It does not matter what their background is, whether they are Dutch, Anglo-Saxon or Aboriginal - they are just different personalities.

Q. Do you think the comments were bordering on racist?
A. I don't know because I didn't hear it - I have only read the transcript. When you read the transcript, that is a little bit different to hearing it on the radio or watching it on the t.v. I have only just read it, so I could get a handle on what was said before I make any comment. It was very disappointing - Rioli is a young player. He probably would not have left the Tiwi Islands until he was 10. Probably never went to Perth until he was 14. There is a big difference in lifestyle to change from a young aboriginal boy in the islands to live like a boy who grew up in the Collingwood suburbs. People don't realise that and I think that it is time that they did. He (Shaw) needs to be a bit more courteous in some areas.

Q. Have you spoken to Dean about the comments?
A. I haven't spoken to Dean about it at the moment.

Q. Do you think the comments will affect Dean?
A. I don't know - I think Dean knows it is a pretty hard and cruel sort of a world out there at times. We will see how he copes with it. He has just come through a tough period, so to be called a 'fat pig' is a pretty big one.