‘He’s not the victim’: Crows coach on banned star
Steve Larkin |
Adelaide ace Izak Rankine shouldn’t be portrayed as a victim after being banned for an inexcusable homophobic slur, his coach says.
Matthew Nicks says a lot of people would be “doing it tough” in the wake of Rankine’s four-match suspension.
The Crows coach says while he and the club were offering Rankine every support, there was no excuse for his slur directed at an opponent.
“Izak has got some great support around him,” Nicks told reporters on Friday.
“He has acknowledged where he went wrong and he’s worked his way through that in the right manner.
“He understands that we have got to be better in that space.
“But he’s not the victim in this. And by no means do we want that to be looked at that way – and he knows that.”
The AFL initially proposed a five-match suspension.
But the league’s chief executive Andrew Dillon cited a “compelling medical submission” from the Crows for reducing the sanction to a four-game ban.
Dillon and Adelaide, whose chief executive Tim Silvers admitted nervousness about Rankine’s mental health, have refused to elaborate on the medical submission.
“No one is making excuses,” Nicks said.
“No one is arguing that there shouldn’t have been a penalty.
“We know we have to be better in that space.
“And we’re educated around that. Staff, players, everyone within the football club, is educated around why, what it is we’re trying to change in society.
“We didn’t get it right on this occasion. We will continue to educate.”
Rankine wanted to return to the club as soon as possible but would likely spend some time away.
“That will be the balance … Izak probably spending a little bit of time away from the club to, I guess, re-energise himself,” Nicks said.
“Our players will get a break – when I say break, they’ll re-energise next week, as will the whole league.
“But I know for a fact, Izak wants to be around the group as soon as he possibly can.
“But also I think some time away will help him as well.”
The four-match ban offers Rankine hope of playing in the grand final, should the ladder-leading Crows reach the premiership decider.
But he will only be available if the Crows lose a home qualifying final en route to the grand final.
The brilliant playmaker, regarded among the AFL’s most talented players, and the Crows understood the impact of his slur on the LGBTQIA community, Nicks said.
“We understand there’s maybe a lot of people that are doing it tough,” he said.
“I don’t know who those people are.
“The only thing we can do as a footy club is get around all of our people and ask questions: how are you and how has it affected you?
“Again, we believe we’ve got a strong culture but we know we need to keep working on it.”
Nicks acknowledged the club’s culture had been tested by Rankine’s offensive remark to an an unnamed Collingwood player in Adelaide’s three-point win last Saturday night.
“It’s moments like this you look at the culture and what it is we’re building and you know that you’ve still got work to do,” Nicks said.
“We aim for perfection but we understand it’s pretty tough to get there, but there’s a lot of things that we’re doing right.
“We constantly address that, we constantly talk about the values and how it is we behave and the importance of role modelling.
“There are a lot of young and older people in South Australia, especially, that look up to our group and our people and we understand that responsibility.”
Rankine is the sixth AFL-listed player banned for an on-field homophobic comment in the past 16 months.
Crows AFLW star Chelsea Randall will return to the team this Sunday for her 75th game and spoke about the controversy in a club video.
“We’re obviously disappointed with what’s happened. From our perspective, we know that Izak’s made a mistake and he’s suffering some big consequences,” said Randall, who married former teammate Marijana Rajcic earlier this year.
“I like to look at it as an opportunity for us all to continue to keep learning about how language has so much power.”
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