I've just watched the game back. For the first 15 mins I watched Clubb and Savellio (yes I'm sad). Savellio doesn't do anything unusual with his knees during that time and his knees aren't near Clubb during the tackle where they come together. Has Clubb actually claimed this, or is a fan just putting forward a possible excuse? Having watched the circumstances back, I don't buy it at all.

Nah, absolutely nothing official.
Comment made on another RL Forum that seemed like a reasonable 'alternative' explanation, amidst all the online clamour to simply brand Clubby guilty out of hand.
Hopefully the club will follow correct investigation protocols now & not be swayed by all the outsider 'noise'.
Clubby must have the right to respond without prejudice &"whatever comes of that is fine by me.

I think Clubb's brain couldn't work out what nationality he was and went up to the next thing ie, North of England, England, Great Britain, Europe, Northern Hemisphere, Earth or NZ, Polynesia, Southern Hemisphere, Earth. If he said feckin instead of Polynesian there is no issue, but given the respect on and off the field in our game for people from that part of the world, and it is not a slur outside the game, I'm not sure Clubb is using the world Polynesian to do anything but drive it home that it is aimed at Savelio, and that stupid and the c word are meant to be the offensive bits in his verbal attack.

Polynesians are an ethnic group, as Europeans would be considered to meet the definition of an ethnic group. I don't condone abuse of anyone, but given that it's not a slur, we respect the various Polynesian cultures, and there is a deep on-field respect for people from Polynesian countries, and heritage, it doesn't seem like intentional racism. I genuinely think Clubby doesn't know whether Savelio is English or a Kiwi, and settles on vague. Trying to get inside the mind of a prop-forward is not the easiest, but I hope that there is no intent, that he can learn about nations, ethnic groups, races and why it is best to steer clear of using identifiers in-between the bits that are meant to be the insult.

As I said, I don't know either way. Merely commenting that 'Polynesian' seems a very strange slur coming from an Englishman. I've literally never come across it as a slur in any way, shape or form in this country and I'm willing to bet neither have you or anyone else on this board. An odd choice if true but not beyond the realms of possibility.

I'm not even sure it's a slur anywhere else in the world for that matter. I've spent time in Australia and New Zealand and I never heard it there either. Don't get me wrong, I'm not excusing it if it was used. I'm sure Clubb will be dealt with appropriately if that's the case and rightly so.

There are 3 possible scenarios here.

1: Clubb said what is alleged.

If this is the case he used a term which describes a group of people who’s ethnicity is Polynesian as an insult. There is no other way to interpret that other than racism and he should be dealt with very harshly, IMO his contract should be terminated.

2: Clubb said something else and it was mis-heard as what was alleged.

He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place if this is the case. I would think a large number of people will not believe him and when he returns to the field he will be a target for a number of players. There will also be doubt in the minds of some of his team mates putting Clubb and Wigan in a difficult position.

3: Savellio made it up.

I really hope (and don’t think) this is the case. If it is that’s probably worse than the alleged comment.



Whatever has happened I don’t think there is a positive outcome for Clubb. I’d be surprised to see him in a Wigan shirt again.

According to the law, a person in this country is innocent until proven guilty.

Judging by many of the comments on the social media including this website about the alleged racist incident in the Hull game, it would appear that is no longer the case!

Until a judgement is made by the RFL, people should observe and keep their opinions to themselves!

Again - it wasn't "Polynesian" that was the insult. Savelio[i is[/i Polynesian. Similarly if someone was called a "stupid Asian ****" it's not "Asian" that's the insult.

If Clubb called Savelio a "stupid Polynesian ****" he's saying that Savelio is stupid and a **** for [ibeing[/i Polynesian.

Since the advent of social media the adage of “innocent till proven guilty” has gone out the window.

He says whilst giving his opinion

What law would that be then? Is he accused of a crime for him to be "guilty" or "not guilty"?

I'm not condoning racism (my partner is mixed raced) but the words stupid and c**t are used all the time in my industry and that's before brew on a Monday morning and non of the lads including me think its particularly offensive as we have thick skin and its just banter.

But we live in a society of easily offended snowflakes

You say that he's calling him a stupid **** for BEING Polynesian - More likely it's an AND statement (if it was said at all?) You are stupid AND Polynesian AND a c***..

I know it's different, because I have so-called white privilege, but if someone called me a stupid English/white c***, the ONLY word I would take exception to (and only then if it thrown in anger) would be the last word.

Even the final insult is not necessarily an insult (although if it was said, it was 100% meant as the main insult in this case).
As Billy Connolly said - It's just a word.
Right down to asking "Who's that c*** with the pope?"

Just like one of my clients almost always greets me with "Ey up, f***er".

The only thing I don't understand is WHY people need to add the middle descriptor?
Stupid c*** works perfectly by itself.
(Although you do hear a lot of non-racial/location-based words in that position - Ginger, fat, etc..)

Being accused is not the same as being charged.