Staggering results of poll on Izak Rankine’s ban for homophobic slur
The footy world is in uproar after Izak Rankine was handed a four-game suspension for a homophobic slur. Barely anyone agrees it was fair.
COMMENT
In the end the AFL managed to upset everyone.
Make no mistake, Izak Rankine would not have gone to bed last night feeling any better about himself after being given a four-game suspension for using a homophobic slur against a Collingwood player last weekend.
His personal reputation is in tatters, he may have ruined his club’s best chance to win a premiership in three decades and the ban still almost certainly ends his season.
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Crows fans won’t feel any less despondent today knowing Rankine could be available for a grand final if their team loses in week one of the postseason and then wins its way through to the decider.
The Adelaide Football Club, tarnished again by one of its star’s loose tongues, might have strengthened its relationship with a player critical to its long-term future by risking public scorn to have his back.
But the Crows will be hyper-conscious of the damage to their brand corporately and fear a season they waited so long for has been derailed.
The other 17 clubs - even those who will benefit from having Rankine removed from the Crows line-up - will know this entire mess could be there’s to deal with next. The 25-year-old is the sixth player in the past two seasons to be suspended for a homophobic slur, there’s no reason to think he’s the last.
The LGBT community will have a right to feel abandoned again, knowing a perceived discount was given to someone who used the most offensive language.
Even the section of the footy world who believes what’s said on the field should stay on the field were inflamed when the AFL revealed it had considered “compelling medical advice” when deciding to give Rankine four games instead of the expected five.
If there’s anything that group dislikes more than players missing games for something they said in the heat of battle is players reportedly using the mental health card.
And then you have the league itself, which was torn to shreds on Thursday night.
Collingwood great Tony Shaw branded the AFL “incompetent”, “amateurish” and “laughable”. Longtime commentator Gerard Whateley called it a “disappointing moment from a disappointing administration”.
“(AFL CEO Andrew) Dillon and his legal team should have travelled to Adelaide on Tuesday and sat with the Crows administration,” Whateley said on SEN.
“Dillon should have said the penalty is five weeks now let’s hear your submissions.
“Dillon should have followed up with the penalty is five weeks now let’s hear your appeal.
“And finally Dillon should have said the penalty is five weeks now let’s go and front the press conference.”
Former Crows player Josh Jenkins called the saga “embarrassing all round” and Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall declared on Fox Footy “they’re almost a victim of their own wokeness … they don’t want to offend anyone and in doing so they’ve offended everybody.”
In fairness to the league there are no winners in situations like this and you can see in the results of the poll above the staggering divide in the footy world on the issue.
Almost one in two Australians think Rankine should have been fined not suspended.
But among those who think the Crow needed to miss games, most believe it should have been at least five.
Originally published as Staggering results of poll on Izak Rankine’s ban for homophobic slur
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