ST KILDA star Bradley Hill respects the reasoning behind Hawk Chad Wingard's self-imposed media ban but believes Australia is making inroads on racism.
The widespread protests across the United States in response to African-American George Floyd's death, which occurred while being restrained by a police officer, are dominating the news agenda.
The issue at hand and subsequent reporting prompted Wingard to announce on Twitter on Monday he wouldn't conduct any media interviews besides those he is contractually obliged to.
I dont trust our media anymore! Until things change i wont be doing any interviews im not contracted to do! Ill be sharing my own thoughts and content!
— chad wingard (@chadwingard20) June 1, 2020
"If that's what Chad wants to do, I respect his decision and I can't do nothing about it. That's the way he feels, so that's his own opinion," Hill told reporters on Tuesday.
"It is pretty bad what's going on over (in the United States) but it is a different part of the world, and there's a lot of stuff going on and it does affect people but it's not blacks versus whites – it's everyone else versus racism.
"It's something that's getting better over here but there's still stuff that does go on and hopefully it can get better.
"Some of the stuff you do watch, it does hit you at the heart sometimes and it's not the greatest thing you want to see, and obviously there are so many media and cameras and phones and you see all this stuff and it is sad."
Hill expected the likes of Aboriginal champion Shaun Burgoyne and Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson to offer their support to Wingard.
The 26-year-old former Docker and Hawk is playing a role in tackling another issue impacting society: motor neurone disease.
Hill is the Saints' representative for the annual Big Freeze spectacle, which helps raise awareness and funds to fight the debilitating condition.
This year's event will be different, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and season interruption, with each participant creating their own slide and videoing themselves going into icy water.
It is normally held before the Collingwood-Melbourne fixture but will instead be broadcast on Channel Seven on the Queen's Birthday holiday on Monday, June 8, three days before the season resumes.
"It's a huge honour to be representing the club and it's a great cause and I reckon my outfit I'm wearing is pretty awesome," Hill said.
"I encourage everyone back home to get involved and go buy yourself a beanie and go support the cause. I can't wait for everyone to watch it and see what I was wearing.
"The players were meant to pick what I was wearing and it got to the day I did it and no one really had an idea what to do, so we made it up on the spot.
"It's a pretty good one and I reckon everyone will have watched it over the break we've had on Netflix, so when you see it, you'll realise what it is."
As an interesting aside, Hill revealed he was allergic to the cold and took antihistamines every day to manage his symptoms, which includes redness in the face and swollen fingers.
"It wasn't actually too bad the day I jumped in the ice water but it was pretty cold," he said.
Hill deflected the player pay cut debate to the AFL and the AFL Players' Association, saying he was happy to play his part but just wanted to get back to playing football.
