3AW’s high profile AFL caller, Rex Hunt, says Collingwood’s Leon Davis has accepted a face to face apology, ending a dispute over an alleged racial slur.
Davis rejected an initial apology and was considering legal action, after Hunt described the Aboriginal player as being as ‘black as a dog’ during Friday night’s call of the match against Essendon.
He says he hopes Hunt understands his hurt over the remarks.
“When initially I heard it, I was pretty hurt by it but, as I said this morning, it’s just a lack of understanding and people are given that knowledge that such a small thing can hurt.
“It’s just a lack of understanding.”
Hunt says it is a massive relief that the matter has been resolved.
“Leon Davis has accepted my apology.
“I’ve come to use the phrase, ‘black as a dog’s guts’ to whimsically refer to the dark of night, or bad weather.
“It took a while for him to understand where I was coming from. It took a very short time for me to understand where he was coming from.”
Hunt says his use of the reference was silly: “I made is quite clear that I regret it and if I could have retrieved what was a silly statement I would.
“People close to me know it has affected me.”
Collingwood’s President, Eddie McGuire, who was at the meeting, says: “The AFL, Collingwood Football Club and Leon and his family are determined to make sure people understand the depth of that hurt.
“When Michael (Long) says that zero tolerance is the AFL’s level of tolerance – it means zero tolerance. And, that’s for everyone in football.
“I don’t think Leon has a problem if Rex wanted to call him a hack or he can’t kick or he’s no good at football or anything like that. I know that Rex is sorry and I know that that’s from his heart, and I have no problem with that. It was clumsy, okay – it hit a nerve, obviously.
“I know I said something on a radio call, one time, that I look back on now with shame. So yeah, it happens, but the thing is you learn from it.”
Hunt says he will call tomorrow night’s AFL game and the events of the past week will make him a better broadcaster in general.