{"id":627555,"date":"2026-04-24T09:09:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:09:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627555\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:09:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:09:17","slug":"the-decision-to-reduce-lance-collards-afl-ban-is-not-only-disappointing-but-dangerous-afl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/627555\/","title":{"rendered":"The decision to reduce Lance Collard\u2019s AFL ban is not only disappointing, but dangerous | AFL"},"content":{"rendered":"

The AFL<\/a> appeals board\u2019s decision to reduce the penalty handed to Lance Collard for allegedly using a homophobic slur, from nine games to four, is truly bewildering. If there is any positive to take from it, it is that I have never seen an AFL disciplinary hearing\u2019s outcome so universally derided as this one, from all sides of politics and the sport.<\/p>\n

Many individuals with a keen interest in the game have already shared their perspectives \u2013 including former AFLW player Kate McCarthy and reporter Marnie Vinall \u2013 and I echo their sentiments here. The appeals board\u2019s decision leaves so much to be desired, and how Collard could receive a smaller penalty for his second offence<\/a> than his first<\/a>, is truly bizarre. It is only natural to be disappointed.<\/p>\n

I can accept the decision and authority of the AFL appeals board as an independent body, and recognise the need for a fair and impartial judicial process. What I cannot accept however, are the reasons and commentary supplied by the appeals board, and their implications for the AFL and the broader society the sport reflects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe observe that football is a hard game. It is highly competitive, particularly at its higher levels. It is commonplace that players can employ language from time to time which is racist, sexist or homophobic whilst on the field,\u201d wrote the appeals board.<\/p>\n

There is so much wrong with this statement. It is not only disappointing, but dangerous. Excusing not only homophobic, but racist and sexist comments as an unfortunate but inevitable element of the game, or the result of the stress that players are under, emboldens racist, sexist and homophobic players and fans everywhere. It goes against every piece of work the AFL has undergone in its attempts to eliminate these harmful behaviours<\/a> from the game, and every statement made that the league has a zero-tolerance policy.<\/p>\n

The reasoning is insulting to every worker who faces extreme stress in their job \u2013 including nurses, healthcare workers, teachers, emergency services professionals \u2013 and yet would never consider uttering a slur as a result of that pressure they are under. Not only would they not consider it, they would be subjected to serious legal repercussions if they went down that path \u2013 as those behaviours are outlawed in any other workplace, other than the AFL it seems.<\/p>\n

There is something sickly satisfying about this as someone who has been told repeatedly over the years \u2013 and especially in the six months since I chose to come out last year<\/a> \u2013 that there is no homophobia problem within the AFL. It\u2019s almost refreshing to have the appeals board say it so plainly \u2013 homophobia (and sexism and racism) \u2013 are inherent and acceptable parts of our game \u2018from time to time\u2019.<\/p>\n

While appointed by the AFL, the appeals board sits independently from the executive. There are individuals working within the AFL, many of whom I\u2019ve got to know personally over the last six months, who care deeply and passionately about eradicating these behaviours from the sport and making it safe and inclusive for all. I can\u2019t imagine their despair today, as it feels like years and years of tireless advocacy has been reversed overnight.<\/p>\n

In noting their reasons for the decision, the appeals board also included \u201cthe fact that the recipient of the remark, [Frankston player Darby] Hipwell, was not offended by the comment\u201d, as a factor in their decision to reduce Collard\u2019s penalty to a four-match ban, with two games suspended.<\/p>\n

Again, this comment is ludicrous. It implies that we can use homophobic slurs whenever we like, as long as it\u2019s not directed at a queer person. To even ask Hipwell whether he was \u201cpersonally offended\u201d by a comment like this, is not too far a leap from asking him to out himself publicly as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. This is deeply dangerous and problematic. Slurs and hate speech are harmful to anyone who hears them, whether they were the intended recipient or not.<\/p>\n

The queer community suffers every time these incidents happen. In particular, the increase in homophobia both online and at games after these incidents and their surrounding media attention is deeply unsettling and traumatising for many of us within the community. This is why the AFL has been right in taking such a strong stance to eradicate homophobia, sexism and racism from the game \u2013 until now.<\/p>\n

One thing I can\u2019t stop thinking about in the wake of the appeals board\u2019s statement is how perfectly this incident encapsulates how one decision can undo the tireless and gruelling advocacy of hundreds of people, over many years, to make the sport a safer and more inclusive place. Today, my heart is with my fellow members of the queer community, women, people of colour and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, anyone within and around the AFL who will undoubtedly be devastated by this result, and every person who has ever been made to feel like they don\u2019t belong in the sport they love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The AFL appeals board\u2019s decision to reduce the penalty handed to Lance Collard for allegedly using a homophobic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627556,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-627555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627555\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}