COLLINGWOOD defender Harry O'Brien has backed his club's actions in cancelling the membership of a supporter who racially vilified Gold Coast's Joel Wilkinson, and says he feels more empathy than anger towards the person who racially vilified his opponent.

Wilkinson was vilified by a spectator during the last quarter of Sunday's match between the Magpies and Suns at the MCG, who was later revealed to be a Collingwood Legends member.

Read Collingwood's statement here.

O'Brien, who spoke to Wilkinson after the game and again on Tuesday night, was asked on Wednesday what he would say to the spectator if he got the chance to speak to him.

"You just want to capture the emotion I'd be feeling, you want to hear me say I wanted to smack that guy in the face," O'Brien said.

"I actually feel more sorry for this person who has this level of awareness and acts in that way and in public than I do for Joel Wilkinson.

"You may have anger [initially] … but trying to fight that back with more anger results in nothing.

"[Joel and I] both feel really sorry for a person of this level of awareness and ignorance. It's really unfortunate to be that way."

Wilkinson and Collingwood midfielder Dale Thomas made complaints about the spectator after the game, and the person has had his membership cancelled and will apologise to Wilkinson, both clubs and offended supporters who witnessed the incident.

O'Brien said he supported the club's move to tear up the membership, which can only be renewed upon consideration after the spectator completes a racial vilification re-education program.

More from O'Brien's press conference on Wednesday morning.

He also said the ex-member should learn from the incident, and society should judge the reaction from Thomas and the AFL as the norm.

"We should try to empower them with the required knowledge to be able to function in society without discriminating [against] others," he said.

"I'm really grateful in the way everything was handled.

"The way the media's taken it, I see it as a bit of reflection on where we are as a society with these issues.

"It's fantastic we can show this as an example of the protocol we should follow when an incident like this occurs."

O'Brien said he expected anyone within the Collingwood organisation to react the way Thomas did.

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.