DRAINED and exhausted, Eddie Betts has made yet another emotional plea to Australia to stand up and fight racism.
But this time Betts - who has fronted the media on many occasions to call out racism - was almost at breaking point.
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"It just hurts," the universally-loved veteran forward said. "It just keeps happening. I'm sick of it. I'm sick of fighting. It's draining," he said on Fox Footy.
In the wake of the Taylor Walker (a former teammate of Betts') racist slur scandal, Betts made a powerful gameday statement on Saturday with the words No Room For Racism written on tape on his wrist.
On Tuesday night, he said he had been begging and hoping Australia would listen, but now he was exhausted.
He said conversations in the workplace and at school had to start now so Australia could move together through education
"I can't do it. I can't. It's hard ... You hear me speaking about it year after year after year [but] it's up to you guys to make change … you guys are the ones that are going to be the powerful voice.
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"We’re sick of fighting because it just keeps happening, happening and happening and happening. And I'm tired, I honestly am … It's getting to me.
"I'’ll keep fighting, no matter what. No matter how emotional I get, no matter how drained I am. I'll fight. I'll fight for my people. I'll fight for the next generation of young Aboriginal kids that come in to play AFL footy to make this a safe place for us to come in and enjoy the game that we love.
"But I don’t how many times though I have to front up to talk about it, to fight about it.
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"We need the rest of Australia to stand up, to fight and stamp it out because there’s no room for racism in Australia."
