Brisbane Lions cancel fan’s membership following racist comments towards Adelaide’s Izak Rankine

The Lions have acted decisively in condemning racist comments made by a club member against an Adelaide Crows star.

Izak Rankine has been the target of racist comments made by a Brisbane Lions supporter whose club membership has been cancelled. Picture: Linda Higginson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Brisbane has acted swiftly to condemn the racist comments directed at Adelaide Crows star Izak Rankine by cancelling the club membership of the Lions fan responsible for the derogatory remarks on social media.

The Lions issued a statement on Monday condemning the comments made towards Rankine, who is facing a suspension for an off-the-ball hit that left Lions star Brandon Starcevich concussed during Brisbane’s 11-point weekend win over the Crows.

“Racism is unacceptable. There are no excuses,” the statement said.

“We condemn the social media comments made towards an Adelaide Crows player during the match (on Sunday) night. They do not reflect the values of our club or our players.

“The comments have been reported to AFL Integrity for further investigation. The individual’s membership has been cancelled immediately.”

Crows chief executive Tim Silvers supported the Lions’ “swift” and “decisive” action to cancel the supporter’s membership.

The comments were directed at Adelaide’s Izak Rankine. Picture: Mark Brake/Getty Images

“There is no place for racism of any kind in society and it is extremely sad and disappointing that we find ourselves dealing with yet another abhorrent attack on one of our players,” Silvers said.

“As an industry we have a collective responsibility to not only call out racism but do everything we can to eradicate it.

“The club will continue to support Izak and his family and do whatever we can to stamp out racism in football and the wider community.”

Starcevich will miss the Lions’ clash against the West Coast on Sunday at Optus Stadium, where the resurgent Brisbane will be wary of an Eagles ambush.

Form suggest the Queenslanders should extend their winning run to six matches when they take on the struggling Eagles, whose coach Adam Simpson is reportedly facing a revolt from some of the club’s senior players.

“I’m here to do a job as best I can and I’ll do that until I get tapped on the shoulder,” Simpson said after his side’s sixth successive defeat, a 54-point weekend loss to Melbourne.

“There’s always unhappy players, especially when we’re out of contention so early for finals.”

Despite the Eagles’ woes, Lions stalwart Dayne Zorko promised his team would be anything but complacent.

Embattled Eagles coach Adam Simpson addresses his players during West Coast’s loss to Melbourne. Picture: Graham Denholm/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“We’re fully aware of (the potential of an Eagles response),” Zorko told SENQ’s Pat and Heals show.

“West Coast, with the energy that they’ve got, off the back of Harley Reid and a couple of their younger players coming through, they’re well and truly a very difficult team to beat at home.

“We spoke about that straight after the game (against Adelaide), just the importance of this weekend’s game and what West Coast can bring, because at their best, they’re extremely competitive and can beat anyone.

“That’s the beauty of our competition at the moment – on any given day, anyone can beat anyone.”

Zorko hailed the form of Brisbane’s midfielders, particularly Josh Dunkley and Lachie Neale.

“It was amazing earlier on in the season when we just couldn’t get that midfield ascendancy just how much strain it put on our backline,” he said.

“Now we’ve been able to fix those numbers up. (Dunkley’s) last two weeks have been superb, Lachie’s always superb – that midfield balance and mix has been sensational.

“Everything’s trending in the right direction. Internally, we thought we could still challenge this season, so I’m glad we’ve stuck to the process and done what we’ve needed to do.”