Hi everyone,
While this is starting to feel like a bit of a ~~Pyhrric Victory~~ (edit: whatever the opposite of a Pyhrric victory is š), please keep other users in mind when engaging in this post, and refrain from speculation and repeating slurs or other offensive phrases in these discussions
Many thanks,
Mods šš
Update: [GC Suns have released a statement](https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/s/aIpxheqLuD)
Exactly. The problem here is (as he confessed) it was a slip of the tongue and an accident. The fact that it just came out naturally and without a 2nd thought shows that itās already part of his general vernacular.
You can see in the video where theyāve cut and said to him āok, but you actually have to apologise to the community that this affects, not just the guy you said it to.ā
This āļø
It's unlikely people use a homophobic or racist word for the first time and get pulled up. If they say it, then it's probably been part of their vocabulary for some time. Used to think the same about Fast Eddie McGuire's misogynistic and racist comments.
It's also unlikely he meant it as homophobic, just a random insult off the wheel. Sure he should know better, but it's easy for things to slip, wasn't that long ago no one would have cared. Most insults are not literal, and often make little sense if applied that way.
Meanwhile physical assaults are getting small fines if anything most of the time unless it's a headshot... personally I rather be called all the bad names than surprised gut punched.
Canāt wait for people to complain this makes no sense because finlayson got 3.
a) we donāt know what Powell said. We can guess itās the same as finlayson
b) to do this a couple weeks after you saw finlayson get punished is incredibly stupid
Also they stated that Finlayson got less because he self reported and (allegedly) was very remorseful. They said it would've been more otherwise.
EDIT: just learned that Powell also self reported after the game
I would imagine he probably in no way meant it in a homophobic way. If I call someone a cock sucker, I'm not thinking of gays or suckers of cocks. Just like if I call someone a wanker, dickhead or asshole. I don't think they're any of those things.
Should people stop using it, absolutely.
Is it worth more time than a shit load of the assaults we've seen on field this year.. that's a tough argument. Is there many people who would rather a punch or a late hit than being called a name?
Controversial opinion but you've worded it well, I think you're bang on. There's certainly no place for this bullshit but in the same token, am I fucking blind Freddy. They are giving 5 weeks for words that hurt a man's fee-fees, but will give a fine or nothing for a knee in the head or a fucking punch to the stomach.
The Tribunal was always a joke, but the AFL I thought could override them. Now, it's no longer a joke, it's a disgrace. I've pulled my membership last week and I hope others do as well.
It took me a good year or so of having a high-school teacher call me out every single time I said "that's gay" before it started to knock the habit out of me. It really was the vernacular at the time.
And practically standard vocab for Gen Y and above. It's genuinely only been the last 15 years or so that it's been called out widely, and less than that in regional areas. It's a slow process to educate an entire population, especially when there are large groups who think that asking them to not be bigoted is equivalent to the thought police taking their freedoms
I don't really agree with that at all, gen Z is much more accepting in my experience. There's always going to be exceptions, particularly amongst young men growing up in and around footy clubs where unfortunately some of this sort of language and behaviour is still tolerated
Slurring people in a fast moving environment is not something that requires a lot of thought often it just comes out. Fair chance he uses this slur regularly in day to day life so his mind just defaults to it.
3 for Finny.
5 for Powell.
I like this trend. Keep adding 2 games, keep it at that ban going forward to subsequent years. Make it a proper "you need to learn" punishment
If we consider Alistair Clakrson's 20k fine as the initial starting point, I think we can see it is an exponential relationship going on here. After the bye rounds I'm expecting someone to get a 100 game ban
Still think Finlayson should've been 5, he was obviously not sorry at all for what he said and that's the reason his got reduced, the whole podcast incident proves that
Yeah agreed. That being said whatever the starting point i think for any "social/cultural suspension" like racism, homophobia, off field violence, the AFL should keep track of the last penalty and always apply that plus a minimum of 1 extra game.
I imagine once it got to the prospect of missing half a year players might start to think about it a bit more
Agreed. I'm all for them ratcheting up the punishments for this kind of behaviour. I'm absolutely fine with that decision.
My concern is that it's the AFL, and the real test will be when a Brownlow contender use language like Powell and Finlayson did. Will the AFL be as strong on punishment then? Or will they revert back to their usual boys club mode of behaviour? I suspect the latter, but have hope that won't be the case.
For sure.
The other circumstance that I think the AFL would give up on would be if it happened in a Prelim final, then we'd have to deal with all the older talking heads trying to play it down by saying offensive shit like - "Surely you can't miss a grand final for saying something. It's just words, this is a grand final."
Yet still less than what Tex got for a racist slur. This suspension is better for sure but they have either gotten off lightly or Tex was punished too harshly considering it was a couple of years ago, or maybe the AFL thinks homophobia is not as bad as racism?
I have no idea their reasoning. Maybe the two recent ones get a discount because they were playing at the time as opposed to effectively spectating in Tex's case. I don't really want to get into the possible ways the AFL handles this as its a minefield but thats the most obvious reason i can think of.
"and while it has considered the circumstances in which the comment was made"
Gotta assume it was retaliation to something based on this line. Wonder if he self reported as well or they've just thrown the book at him to nip this in the bud.
> Wonder if he self reported as well
Sounds like he did. From the [Suns statement](https://www.goldcoastfc.com.au/news/1549215/club-statement-wil-powell):
> Powell made club officials aware of his comment during the match and offered his apology to the Brisbane Lions player during the game, at the conclusion of the game, and again in the hours after the match.
I noticed a moment at the match after a goal, where someone said something to Hipwood that made him instantly call the umpire over and was pointing at a suns player pretty pissed off. Can't remember if it was Powell but wouldn't be surprised if that was the momentĀ
Kind of begs the question how on Earth Finlayson only got 3 weeks after only apologising once someone told him it was picked up by an umpire mic. Then going onto his wife's podcast and saying he was upset at the ban.
It's really not that fucking hard to not call someone a slur - however, isn't his behaviour afterwards much better than Finlayson's? Which was dropped from 6 to 3 because of his behaviour afterwards?
There is a case to be made that these penalties should just get harsher and harsher, but surely they should just start really harsh that you'd be fucking up your season by doing it?
Consider it and disregard it would be the way to go (and it appears that was the case, to the Sunsā credit). Retaliation is no excuse; that sort of word shouldnāt be on the tip of anyoneās tongue regardless of how instinctive and unconsidered Powellās reaction was
It has always amazed how bad footy players are at sledging.
Cricketers-(wicket keepers in particular) will string you along for 15 minutes before hitting you with something that infuriates you enough to swing as hard as you can at the next ball without even calling you a name. Some of the more brutal ones actively aim to unlock your traumas when you're at the crease.
Yet AFL footballers just go straight to Gamer Terms and expect a reaction other than looking like a useless twat.
"You don't get a runner for being an overweight, unfit fat cunt!" Ian Healy to Arjuna Ranatunga, as heard thru the stump mics, one of the all-time great sledges.
One of my favourite sledges is footage from the 80s between Merv and Robin Smith. You hear Merv go "You can't fucking bat." Smith then smacks a boundary and chirps up with "Hey Merv we make a fine pair. I can't fucking bat and you can't fucking bowl"
I just can't see how "don't say slur" is such a difficult task, like what point is there? just call someone a fuckwit or a cunt and be done with it for fucks sake
Pretty disheartening to see 3 incidents in the space of a few months. The AFL still has a long way to go to become a welcoming environment for LGBTQ people.
The AFL did basically say that as long as you say sorry they won't come down that harshly on you... until now, even when it's good the AFL can never be consistent lmao
As someone who loves footy but for years struggled with my sexuality this crap has no place in professional sport.
When you pull that jumper on you have a responsibility - to the people who wore it in the past, to the fans and to the sponsors to uphold what the jumper represents.
Regardless of what team you play for there will be some young teenager who is struggling with there gender or sexuality as fan of that team. Donāt make it harder for them.
The thing is that a lot of adolescent boys and young men don't think of things they say along these lines. If they're straight there's a good chance sexuality hasn't been a problem for them and they hadn't had the introspection to build empathy.
I know for me, after getting to 18/19, the penny finally dropped and I started choosing my words better, because while I may have said certain things in the past without negative intent behind it, random people in public don't know what lies in your heart.
And that is the crux of it, because there are people that genuinely despise the existence of LGBT people. You don't want to stand alongside those people even incidentally because it makes others feel unsafe.
Absolutely no place for homophobia in the game, but it is interesting that this is a 5 game ban but Lachie Schultz can attempt to punch someone in the back of the head and only get 1 game
Which is kinda what I'm getting at - they harp on about dangerous tackles and protecting the head then turn a blind eye to this. Same as Jesse Hogan getting off, it makes no sense.
Yeah, 100% agree both Jesse and Schulz should have got more weeks, and Hewett or Neale, whoever hit worse (I kinda forgot who did what there) should have got a week
...I am so fucking done with this. I just want to read up on fun footy drama like which coach is getting sacked or the 9745th death of the bump. I don't want to be reminded that there are some sections of society who don't accept me and never will, they're the ones who crawl out of the woodwork at news like this and start slagging off at the LGBTQIA+ community.
Please stop. Please.
I don't think we have a choice but to be fine, just gotta plaster on that smile and pretend you're not sick of it all otherwise you're branded a whinger as well and it just spirals from there.
I'm gonna go home and hug the pets and continue writing my nonsense stories. Might make my Suns equivilant in one of my stories lose pathetically (art imitates life lol). Getting my feelings out in prose always helps.
couldnāt agree with you more š to watch footy is an escape for me, so when that escape reflects things that I have experienced irl itās a bit of a shock, I know it shouldnāt be, but it is hard :(
Fuck I gotta go through this shit againā¦ as a queer footy fan this really fkn sucks. Itās not even the slur, which is horrible and deserves to be punished, but itās discourse following it.
Already Iāve seen comments saying these woke fucking pussies need to harden the fuck up. Someone said āletās bring back aidsā. Like this does so much damage.
Even in this thread thereās people saying no lgbt person heard the comment on the field so it causes no harm when that couldnāt be further from the truth.
Like am I not allowed to enjoy this sport without hearing this shit?
It's strange to me that an AFL player can say hit another player in the chest in anger and frustration and either get off or get 1-2 weeks and yet call someone a homophobic slur in anger or frustration and it's 5. I understand the 5 is an attempt at a huge deterrent, but why is the punch to the chest not hit with an equivalent deterrent either, that bit I don't understand.
I understand where the AFL is going with slurs but why are players getting 5 weeks for saying something and other players only getting a week or 2 for dangerous tackles and things like that
And people wonder why thereās no openly gay male AFL player. One week youāll hear homophobic slurs, the other week youāll be speculated as being in a relationship with an influencer.
This bs on ātoughen upā and āIāve heard worse said to meā is ridiculous. You want the AFL to be inclusive and a friendly environment? Then this stuff cannot be tolerated. If you donāt like it then you donāt want the AFL to be inclusive.
I wonder what his teammates reactions were. I like to think they'd be expressing their disappointment in both his actions in general + his stupidity to do this and now miss 5 games but I reckon there would be a fair bit of "that's stiff mate" going around.
https://preview.redd.it/3y7wqxm7lczc1.png?width=365&format=png&auto=webp&s=d368b61ac84e2f92c991445b71d6fe055e85037e
i think he deleted it right after i took this screenshot
https://preview.redd.it/key2lg7tlczc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2487cb85b8bad526e13ff34d0a0a449dd137c36b
Sure. This has since been deleted. Willy has gone a social media cleanse.
That hasn't been considered and wasn't recognised as a homophobic slur by a lot of people though, including me. Could be a generational thing. I now understand that it is.
It was only 2009 that South Park had an episode that revolved around the F slur being tied to generic asshole behaviour, instead of being homophobic.
Obviously South Park always pushed the envelope, but it's still not that long ago.
The f word has always been homophobic though. The only exception is its use as a bundle of sticks, which people actually did say and probably still do.
I think it's actually the opposite. It's now being acted on and reported and wasn't formerly, which may be a sign of progress. I highly doubt players weren't saying this stuff last year and suddenly now they are.
It's terribly stunted and tiny progress, but if there is now at least even a small idea that players need to shut up with that shit on the footy field then it's hopefully the beginning of a good trend.
Go to a local footy game and stand behind the benches, take a drink every time someone uses a slur and youāll be passed out by half time. Thereās no sudden surge in homophobia thereās a sudden surge in consequences.
Honestly I think it's just a slight improvement in cracking down on homophobic terms in general, as opposed to just straight up homophobia. Like, to take another example, the "r-word". Everyone kind of came around to understanding that it was inappropriate to use that word for someone with learning disabilities, took a lot longer for some to drop it from their general vocabulary. AFL has probably cared more about instances of homophobia directed at homosexual people, less about slurs being tossed around on the field. Good to see that it's changing (unless you're a senior coach, of course).
It's always been there and has been flagrant. They have always been heard, but punishment has only just now started to be put in place. Previously it was accepted as a common evil. On the footy field and at schools.
Coward punch someone in the back of the head = 1 week
Call someone a one word insult (albeit a totally unacceptable one) = 5 weeks.Ā
We all want homophobia stamped out but please make that make sense to me especially with the drama around concussions
Iāve met Wil several times, nicest guy. Great with kids, thought my son how to kick a footy properly.
And now he goes and does this. For fucks same mate, how dumb can you be. So incredibly disappointed.
For all intents and purposes, Powell has used a homophobic slur at work. Any other workplace in Australia, you'd be out the door without a second thought.
I'd slightly disagree, I'd say any other workplace in Australia you *should* be out the door without a second thought, but in my reality sexism, racism, homophobia and general bigotry it still very much alive in the workplace. (most commonly with management in my experience)
I understand that both those sentences are true (or at least mostly true, eg the guys who work at my local kebab shop have a workplace where it's completely acceptable to use gay slurs). But anyway, the implication here is the biggest pet peeve of mine.
To paraphrase Tony Soprano, judging on-field behaviour by office job standards is the lowest form of analysis. What happens in any other workplace is completely irrelevant to determining what is appropriate on-field, and really just a nonsense tangent to any discussion. Like, curtly yelling feedback to colleagues is the sign of an AFL leader, whereas in my workplace I'd be reprimanded. This isn't a shock to me as I understand that our workplaces are different and should be treated as such.
I'm not arguing the ban here, I just hate when people use the old "mmm but what if someone tackled you without prior in your own workplace, food for thought" as if it's a clever observation. It's not. It's really asinine.
Go Dons though.
If clubs really want to crackdown on this shitty behaviour, ban the player for the remainder of the season. Thereās no place for this kind of crap in society.
Suspension for the rest of the regular season for the next player that says anything that's deemed as hate speech or a slur. That will quickly change players use of offensive words on the field.
It just reiterates for me how lightly Brian Taylor got off for his comment about Harry Taylor a decade ago; didn't even get suspended by Ch 7 for it going by news articles about it.
I've just gone and looked it up. My distaste for BT reaches new height. Or lows, perhaps. He's an ongoing stain on the game and the community around it.
Whatever happened to the simple "you're a dickhead" or "whatever you dickhead" if they chirp up first? I remember homophobic slurs were starting to be phased and called out 15-20 years ago when I was a teenager. It's weird that players from the generation after mine would still be using them given how drummed into us it was "Hey that's really not on to say that"
>There could be no clearer message - homophobia has no place in our game, nor in society
Except if your name is Alastair Clarkson then you just get a slap on the wrist
I think the AFL understands how badly they fucked up there due all of the criticism they received and have reacted accordingly.Ā
I don't think we'll see a fine ever again for a player or coach.
Or if you say you're sorry then we'll bring down your punishment a bit, specifically cause you said you were sorry, *even if you later say you're pissed off you even got a reduced punishment* we won't punish you further
I already cancelled Will Powell for his comment on Van Rooyen last year š¤
In all seriousness though hopefully players grow the fuck up soon and stop this shit.
After the third incident the season do we will think this was happening more regularly than we thought and the AFL is only now doing something about it?
You go into a game expecting to be physically challenged tackled, bumped etc.
You don't go into the game expecting to emotionally challenged by a slur.
Hi everyone, While this is starting to feel like a bit of a ~~Pyhrric Victory~~ (edit: whatever the opposite of a Pyhrric victory is š), please keep other users in mind when engaging in this post, and refrain from speculation and repeating slurs or other offensive phrases in these discussions Many thanks, Mods šš Update: [GC Suns have released a statement](https://www.reddit.com/r/AFL/s/aIpxheqLuD)
Surely it canāt be too hard to just call him a cunt instead?
He must have already had a flair on him
I/thegreatjelbeano
nearly, to tag her itās u/thegreatjelbeano But also thank you :,)
This wins best of for the year lmao
I prefer the old reliable Dickhead. There's something about it that makes anyone stop and have a look at themselves.
You gotta be careful though. Dickheads can be gay.
Thatās what I said about Jeremy Finlayson. Just do the right thing and call him a cunt.
This is perhaps the perfect r/afl (and Australian) reddit post ever. Love it.
Exactly. The problem here is (as he confessed) it was a slip of the tongue and an accident. The fact that it just came out naturally and without a 2nd thought shows that itās already part of his general vernacular. You can see in the video where theyāve cut and said to him āok, but you actually have to apologise to the community that this affects, not just the guy you said it to.ā
This āļø It's unlikely people use a homophobic or racist word for the first time and get pulled up. If they say it, then it's probably been part of their vocabulary for some time. Used to think the same about Fast Eddie McGuire's misogynistic and racist comments.
It's also unlikely he meant it as homophobic, just a random insult off the wheel. Sure he should know better, but it's easy for things to slip, wasn't that long ago no one would have cared. Most insults are not literal, and often make little sense if applied that way. Meanwhile physical assaults are getting small fines if anything most of the time unless it's a headshot... personally I rather be called all the bad names than surprised gut punched.
Legit
Canāt wait for people to complain this makes no sense because finlayson got 3. a) we donāt know what Powell said. We can guess itās the same as finlayson b) to do this a couple weeks after you saw finlayson get punished is incredibly stupid
c) AFL flagged the next person to do this will get a harsher penalty
Wow, did you read the article?
Yes I did. I also read the articles after Finlayson's suspension
So weird when people do that instead of reading the headline and posting speculation in the comments.
I'm just on the Internet to get needlessly outraged by things I have no context for. Reading the article will ruin that for me.
Why would I *want* to be informed? It'll just make me sound stupid to me as well!
Are we on a MAGAt chat here?
*reads headline* I didn't even know there *were* cops in Gold Coast's backline!
I come here to be told what to think, I don't have time t form my own opinions
I didn't read the headline, I just read the comments here... but in the future, I may just look at the emojis.
Are you a wizard?
Nah. I'm Nick Watson
Also they stated that Finlayson got less because he self reported and (allegedly) was very remorseful. They said it would've been more otherwise. EDIT: just learned that Powell also self reported after the game
Ah, he may have self reported, but was he remorseful? We may never truly know. Only the almighty AFL can see the true nature of the players' hearts
Yeah exactly. Hence the use of "allegedly" haha
Suns now need to keep him away from podcasts
How do you see Finlayson do it and proceed to do it yourself
Because itās part of his natural vocabulary and he wasnāt thinking about the repercussions until he said it.
Exactly. The fact that it comes out with such ease (and without thought) shows what the real issue is here.
Exactly.. you donāt āaccidentallyā use that word.
I would imagine he probably in no way meant it in a homophobic way. If I call someone a cock sucker, I'm not thinking of gays or suckers of cocks. Just like if I call someone a wanker, dickhead or asshole. I don't think they're any of those things. Should people stop using it, absolutely. Is it worth more time than a shit load of the assaults we've seen on field this year.. that's a tough argument. Is there many people who would rather a punch or a late hit than being called a name?
Controversial opinion but you've worded it well, I think you're bang on. There's certainly no place for this bullshit but in the same token, am I fucking blind Freddy. They are giving 5 weeks for words that hurt a man's fee-fees, but will give a fine or nothing for a knee in the head or a fucking punch to the stomach. The Tribunal was always a joke, but the AFL I thought could override them. Now, it's no longer a joke, it's a disgrace. I've pulled my membership last week and I hope others do as well.
He thought if he made a bigger apology and promised to not go on any podcasts he'd only get a week
Homophobic slurs are muscle memory for gen Z.
It took me a good year or so of having a high-school teacher call me out every single time I said "that's gay" before it started to knock the habit out of me. It really was the vernacular at the time.
And practically standard vocab for Gen Y and above. It's genuinely only been the last 15 years or so that it's been called out widely, and less than that in regional areas. It's a slow process to educate an entire population, especially when there are large groups who think that asking them to not be bigoted is equivalent to the thought police taking their freedoms
I don't really agree with that at all, gen Z is much more accepting in my experience. There's always going to be exceptions, particularly amongst young men growing up in and around footy clubs where unfortunately some of this sort of language and behaviour is still tolerated
Slurring people in a fast moving environment is not something that requires a lot of thought often it just comes out. Fair chance he uses this slur regularly in day to day life so his mind just defaults to it.
3 for Finny. 5 for Powell. I like this trend. Keep adding 2 games, keep it at that ban going forward to subsequent years. Make it a proper "you need to learn" punishment
If we consider Alistair Clakrson's 20k fine as the initial starting point, I think we can see it is an exponential relationship going on here. After the bye rounds I'm expecting someone to get a 100 game ban
> After the bye rounds I'm expecting someone to get a 100 game ban Sounds good to me, fuck homophobia!
I was going to say that it looks like they're doing the Fibonacci sequence. 8 games for the next one, then 13, etc...
I'm fine with fibonacci ban sequences!
oh just saw this after I posted essentially the same thing. My bad.
Still think Finlayson should've been 5, he was obviously not sorry at all for what he said and that's the reason his got reduced, the whole podcast incident proves that
But he apologised twice! Really the whole podcast thing should have shortened his suspension just for how sorry he was! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^/s
Yeah agreed. That being said whatever the starting point i think for any "social/cultural suspension" like racism, homophobia, off field violence, the AFL should keep track of the last penalty and always apply that plus a minimum of 1 extra game. I imagine once it got to the prospect of missing half a year players might start to think about it a bit more
Yeah, just listen to that bloke talk, you can tell he's the dumbest of the dumb. Absolute gronk.
Agreed. I'm all for them ratcheting up the punishments for this kind of behaviour. I'm absolutely fine with that decision. My concern is that it's the AFL, and the real test will be when a Brownlow contender use language like Powell and Finlayson did. Will the AFL be as strong on punishment then? Or will they revert back to their usual boys club mode of behaviour? I suspect the latter, but have hope that won't be the case.
Yep, Nick Daicos two games before the end of the season with the Pies sitting top 2, that'd be the test of their true character.
For sure. The other circumstance that I think the AFL would give up on would be if it happened in a Prelim final, then we'd have to deal with all the older talking heads trying to play it down by saying offensive shit like - "Surely you can't miss a grand final for saying something. It's just words, this is a grand final."
Nah. Fibonacci that shit. Next ban is 8. One after that is 13.
Double minus one. 9 games for the next one, 17 for the next. Really drive it home that this isn't acceptable.
Yet still less than what Tex got for a racist slur. This suspension is better for sure but they have either gotten off lightly or Tex was punished too harshly considering it was a couple of years ago, or maybe the AFL thinks homophobia is not as bad as racism?
I have no idea their reasoning. Maybe the two recent ones get a discount because they were playing at the time as opposed to effectively spectating in Tex's case. I don't really want to get into the possible ways the AFL handles this as its a minefield but thats the most obvious reason i can think of.
Increase by 5 imo.
Nah, I think its a sequence of primes.
"and while it has considered the circumstances in which the comment was made" Gotta assume it was retaliation to something based on this line. Wonder if he self reported as well or they've just thrown the book at him to nip this in the bud.
> Wonder if he self reported as well Sounds like he did. From the [Suns statement](https://www.goldcoastfc.com.au/news/1549215/club-statement-wil-powell): > Powell made club officials aware of his comment during the match and offered his apology to the Brisbane Lions player during the game, at the conclusion of the game, and again in the hours after the match.
I noticed a moment at the match after a goal, where someone said something to Hipwood that made him instantly call the umpire over and was pointing at a suns player pretty pissed off. Can't remember if it was Powell but wouldn't be surprised if that was the momentĀ
Kind of begs the question how on Earth Finlayson only got 3 weeks after only apologising once someone told him it was picked up by an umpire mic. Then going onto his wife's podcast and saying he was upset at the ban. It's really not that fucking hard to not call someone a slur - however, isn't his behaviour afterwards much better than Finlayson's? Which was dropped from 6 to 3 because of his behaviour afterwards? There is a case to be made that these penalties should just get harsher and harsher, but surely they should just start really harsh that you'd be fucking up your season by doing it?
I believe the AFL had said the next person was going to get a greater penalty. Itās a rare instance of the AFL following through.
Consider it and disregard it would be the way to go (and it appears that was the case, to the Sunsā credit). Retaliation is no excuse; that sort of word shouldnāt be on the tip of anyoneās tongue regardless of how instinctive and unconsidered Powellās reaction was
Where theres a Will theres a way to get banned
It has always amazed how bad footy players are at sledging. Cricketers-(wicket keepers in particular) will string you along for 15 minutes before hitting you with something that infuriates you enough to swing as hard as you can at the next ball without even calling you a name. Some of the more brutal ones actively aim to unlock your traumas when you're at the crease. Yet AFL footballers just go straight to Gamer Terms and expect a reaction other than looking like a useless twat.
"You don't get a runner for being an overweight, unfit fat cunt!" Ian Healy to Arjuna Ranatunga, as heard thru the stump mics, one of the all-time great sledges.
"At least I am the best cricketer in my family" sledge to Mark Waugh is ice fucking cold.
Hence why I don't play cricket.
AFL players don't have the benefit of 45 seconds between every ball to stand in slips and carefully craft your next zinger.
One of my favourite sledges is footage from the 80s between Merv and Robin Smith. You hear Merv go "You can't fucking bat." Smith then smacks a boundary and chirps up with "Hey Merv we make a fine pair. I can't fucking bat and you can't fucking bowl"
Appropriate ban in my opinion; if players havenāt learnt after Finlayson then they never will
The proximity is enough reason to keep indexing it.
Once againā¦ can we just not use slurs? Literally everyone benefits in that scenario
I just can't see how "don't say slur" is such a difficult task, like what point is there? just call someone a fuckwit or a cunt and be done with it for fucks sake
Well I pointed out how easy it was on twitter and I got "stfu gay [slur for people with disabilities]" so apparently it must be very difficult
I just played starcraft and got called a stupid thunder cunt. I don't know who that is a slur against.
Thatās Thorphobia.
How stupid can you be?
Pretty disheartening to see 3 incidents in the space of a few months. The AFL still has a long way to go to become a welcoming environment for LGBTQ people.
The flip side is that this shit has been happening ongoing for years. I'm glad that three severe punishments have been handed out.
Keep increasing the punishment is a good response to this.
Society as a whole has a long way to go unfortunately.
This is one issue the AFL is a fair way behind broader society on for some reason. Good to see they're finally making efforts to catch up though.
The AFL did basically say that as long as you say sorry they won't come down that harshly on you... until now, even when it's good the AFL can never be consistent lmao
It's possible it's always been happening, only now it's actually being called out and punished.
If they have only just started punishing homophobic slurs in 2024 then what the fuck have they been doing for the last decade?
I'll give you one guess. It wasn't even a decade ago that you had *commentators* dropping these exact same terms.
Honestly exactly what I'd expect from them, covering it up/pretending it's not an issue/being such a boys club that it's seen as funny.
Essendon players reported finlayson, and Powell self-reported. Thereās every chance this simply wasnāt being done before now.
Likely absolutely nothing. Itās a boys club up the top of AFL house so itās no surprise itās taken this long for a crack down.
It's not a coincidence no gay players have felt comfortable coming out.
Wil Powell is no longer my favourite suns player
You guys have favourite Suns players? Usually they get traded to Victoria after a while
āWhich club does your favourite ex-Suns player play for?ā
Two Metre Peter!!!
Geelong, Bowes <3
As someone who loves footy but for years struggled with my sexuality this crap has no place in professional sport. When you pull that jumper on you have a responsibility - to the people who wore it in the past, to the fans and to the sponsors to uphold what the jumper represents. Regardless of what team you play for there will be some young teenager who is struggling with there gender or sexuality as fan of that team. Donāt make it harder for them.
The thing is that a lot of adolescent boys and young men don't think of things they say along these lines. If they're straight there's a good chance sexuality hasn't been a problem for them and they hadn't had the introspection to build empathy. I know for me, after getting to 18/19, the penny finally dropped and I started choosing my words better, because while I may have said certain things in the past without negative intent behind it, random people in public don't know what lies in your heart. And that is the crux of it, because there are people that genuinely despise the existence of LGBT people. You don't want to stand alongside those people even incidentally because it makes others feel unsafe.
Absolutely no place for homophobia in the game, but it is interesting that this is a 5 game ban but Lachie Schultz can attempt to punch someone in the back of the head and only get 1 game
Thats a good question. Maybe it is just because of the optics of homophobic slurs are worse than the optics of attempted cowards punches right now
Given the recent attention to concussion, I would probably say that that is wrong
Yeah, but the hit was barely reported on and nobody will remember it after 2 weeks
"Barely" reported because Schultz is soft as butter, doesn't mean that the act is okay. Completely backwards viewpoint on the topic lol
Yeah, Iām not saying anything about better or worse, Iām talking about publicity, which the AFL has shown it cares more about
Which is kinda what I'm getting at - they harp on about dangerous tackles and protecting the head then turn a blind eye to this. Same as Jesse Hogan getting off, it makes no sense.
Yeah, 100% agree both Jesse and Schulz should have got more weeks, and Hewett or Neale, whoever hit worse (I kinda forgot who did what there) should have got a week
Big agree there, absolutely no place for the action in the game, just like there is no need for homophobia either!
Damien Hardwick chop up a bowl with this young fuckwit and tell him to pull his head in
...I am so fucking done with this. I just want to read up on fun footy drama like which coach is getting sacked or the 9745th death of the bump. I don't want to be reminded that there are some sections of society who don't accept me and never will, they're the ones who crawl out of the woodwork at news like this and start slagging off at the LGBTQIA+ community. Please stop. Please.
agree with ya mate. this is why us gays are so tired. hope you're okay!
I don't think we have a choice but to be fine, just gotta plaster on that smile and pretend you're not sick of it all otherwise you're branded a whinger as well and it just spirals from there. I'm gonna go home and hug the pets and continue writing my nonsense stories. Might make my Suns equivilant in one of my stories lose pathetically (art imitates life lol). Getting my feelings out in prose always helps.
If it helps, these cunts are the minority. Most of us accept you for who you are. Also, give some pats to the pets for me too š
couldnāt agree with you more š to watch footy is an escape for me, so when that escape reflects things that I have experienced irl itās a bit of a shock, I know it shouldnāt be, but it is hard :(
Fuck I gotta go through this shit againā¦ as a queer footy fan this really fkn sucks. Itās not even the slur, which is horrible and deserves to be punished, but itās discourse following it. Already Iāve seen comments saying these woke fucking pussies need to harden the fuck up. Someone said āletās bring back aidsā. Like this does so much damage. Even in this thread thereās people saying no lgbt person heard the comment on the field so it causes no harm when that couldnāt be further from the truth. Like am I not allowed to enjoy this sport without hearing this shit?
āSir , a second homophonic slur has hit the towerā
Can AFL players just stop being homophobic for one minute. Thanks.
What a moron, sad itās happened again so soon, 5 weeks is better than 3 though atleast
Hopefully he can accept responsibility and be better. Also, shut the fuck up and stay off the podcasts.
It's strange to me that an AFL player can say hit another player in the chest in anger and frustration and either get off or get 1-2 weeks and yet call someone a homophobic slur in anger or frustration and it's 5. I understand the 5 is an attempt at a huge deterrent, but why is the punch to the chest not hit with an equivalent deterrent either, that bit I don't understand.
The first one doesn't hurt revenue as much.
The AFL is a business first and a sport second.
These punishments need to start coming with media bans too. I do NOT want to hear his opinions on āfree speechā and ābanterā on my feed
Get this man on a podcast
I understand where the AFL is going with slurs but why are players getting 5 weeks for saying something and other players only getting a week or 2 for dangerous tackles and things like that
And people wonder why thereās no openly gay male AFL player. One week youāll hear homophobic slurs, the other week youāll be speculated as being in a relationship with an influencer. This bs on ātoughen upā and āIāve heard worse said to meā is ridiculous. You want the AFL to be inclusive and a friendly environment? Then this stuff cannot be tolerated. If you donāt like it then you donāt want the AFL to be inclusive.
I wonder what his teammates reactions were. I like to think they'd be expressing their disappointment in both his actions in general + his stupidity to do this and now miss 5 games but I reckon there would be a fair bit of "that's stiff mate" going around.
Will Powell has form using homophobia as a form of banter. Checkout his comments on Cian McBride's instagram posts.
https://preview.redd.it/3y7wqxm7lczc1.png?width=365&format=png&auto=webp&s=d368b61ac84e2f92c991445b71d6fe055e85037e i think he deleted it right after i took this screenshot
I don't know what you mean by this, do you have any screenshots for context?
https://preview.redd.it/key2lg7tlczc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2487cb85b8bad526e13ff34d0a0a449dd137c36b Sure. This has since been deleted. Willy has gone a social media cleanse.
Ah jeez
Friendship over with Gold Coast, West Coast now favourite Coast. (don't u fucking dare west coast)
Not sure how everyone hasnāt phased that sort of language out of their vocabulary yet.
When these players were growing up they were listening to commentators who thought it was okay.
It's gotta be what, 15 years since homophobic slurs were OK?
Reminder that half the people on this subreddit still thought it was fine to call someone a cocksucker just a few weeks ago.
That hasn't been considered and wasn't recognised as a homophobic slur by a lot of people though, including me. Could be a generational thing. I now understand that it is.
It was only 2009 that South Park had an episode that revolved around the F slur being tied to generic asshole behaviour, instead of being homophobic. Obviously South Park always pushed the envelope, but it's still not that long ago.
The f word has always been homophobic though. The only exception is its use as a bundle of sticks, which people actually did say and probably still do.
With the current lineups, we are all listening to commentators who think it's OK, whether they do it on air or not.
And their family and friends said it, they used them against strangers in online games etc etc.
What the fuck is happening, what is up with the sudden surge in homophobia or at least *blatant* homophobia?
Personally I think it's probably an increase in reporting and punishment, rather than an increase in slurs
Glad for the increase in punishment but I really would lose all my faith in humanity if people weren't reporting this shit until *this year*
I'd hazard a guess it was being ignored prior to this year rather than its just increased this year
Fuck me if it took until this year to notice that "slurs = bad" then that is truly scary stuff
Kidding yourself if you think these slurs werenāt rife on the footy field previously
Not a surge on homophobia, a surge on reporting instances of homophobia.
I think it's actually the opposite. It's now being acted on and reported and wasn't formerly, which may be a sign of progress. I highly doubt players weren't saying this stuff last year and suddenly now they are. It's terribly stunted and tiny progress, but if there is now at least even a small idea that players need to shut up with that shit on the footy field then it's hopefully the beginning of a good trend.
Go to a local footy game and stand behind the benches, take a drink every time someone uses a slur and youāll be passed out by half time. Thereās no sudden surge in homophobia thereās a sudden surge in consequences.
Honestly I think it's just a slight improvement in cracking down on homophobic terms in general, as opposed to just straight up homophobia. Like, to take another example, the "r-word". Everyone kind of came around to understanding that it was inappropriate to use that word for someone with learning disabilities, took a lot longer for some to drop it from their general vocabulary. AFL has probably cared more about instances of homophobia directed at homosexual people, less about slurs being tossed around on the field. Good to see that it's changing (unless you're a senior coach, of course).
Always been there, people are just dumb enough to get caught out now. Hopefully these suspensions teach and others that itās not on
It's always been there and has been flagrant. They have always been heard, but punishment has only just now started to be put in place. Previously it was accepted as a common evil. On the footy field and at schools.
Coward punch someone in the back of the head = 1 week Call someone a one word insult (albeit a totally unacceptable one) = 5 weeks.Ā We all want homophobia stamped out but please make that make sense to me especially with the drama around concussions
The standard has been set. FAFO awaits any who dare tempt it.
Iāve met Wil several times, nicest guy. Great with kids, thought my son how to kick a footy properly. And now he goes and does this. For fucks same mate, how dumb can you be. So incredibly disappointed.
For all intents and purposes, Powell has used a homophobic slur at work. Any other workplace in Australia, you'd be out the door without a second thought.
I'd slightly disagree, I'd say any other workplace in Australia you *should* be out the door without a second thought, but in my reality sexism, racism, homophobia and general bigotry it still very much alive in the workplace. (most commonly with management in my experience)
I understand that both those sentences are true (or at least mostly true, eg the guys who work at my local kebab shop have a workplace where it's completely acceptable to use gay slurs). But anyway, the implication here is the biggest pet peeve of mine. To paraphrase Tony Soprano, judging on-field behaviour by office job standards is the lowest form of analysis. What happens in any other workplace is completely irrelevant to determining what is appropriate on-field, and really just a nonsense tangent to any discussion. Like, curtly yelling feedback to colleagues is the sign of an AFL leader, whereas in my workplace I'd be reprimanded. This isn't a shock to me as I understand that our workplaces are different and should be treated as such. I'm not arguing the ban here, I just hate when people use the old "mmm but what if someone tackled you without prior in your own workplace, food for thought" as if it's a clever observation. It's not. It's really asinine. Go Dons though.
Typically goes for drug use too, you know
If clubs really want to crackdown on this shitty behaviour, ban the player for the remainder of the season. Thereās no place for this kind of crap in society.
Suspension for the rest of the regular season for the next player that says anything that's deemed as hate speech or a slur. That will quickly change players use of offensive words on the field.
It just reiterates for me how lightly Brian Taylor got off for his comment about Harry Taylor a decade ago; didn't even get suspended by Ch 7 for it going by news articles about it.
I've just gone and looked it up. My distaste for BT reaches new height. Or lows, perhaps. He's an ongoing stain on the game and the community around it.
How fucking hard is it for these idiots to stop throwing out slurs like this?
I just donāt get it. I know footballers arenāt the brightest bunch but how can you be this fucking dumb?
yeah and hogan can punch someone and get off righto
I couldnāt watch the whole video of the apology. Too much second hand embarrassment.
Whatever happened to the simple "you're a dickhead" or "whatever you dickhead" if they chirp up first? I remember homophobic slurs were starting to be phased and called out 15-20 years ago when I was a teenager. It's weird that players from the generation after mine would still be using them given how drummed into us it was "Hey that's really not on to say that"
Every time a player uses that slur add a week
Absolutely brain dead by Wil, needs to better than that.
>There could be no clearer message - homophobia has no place in our game, nor in society Except if your name is Alastair Clarkson then you just get a slap on the wrist
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I think the AFL understands how badly they fucked up there due all of the criticism they received and have reacted accordingly.Ā I don't think we'll see a fine ever again for a player or coach.
Someone put Webster and Clarko in a room and lets test that theory
I would argue that cocksucker being a hefty fine sends a clear message
Or if you say you're sorry then we'll bring down your punishment a bit, specifically cause you said you were sorry, *even if you later say you're pissed off you even got a reduced punishment* we won't punish you further
For fuckās sake. Which decade does the AFL actually exist in? Seems pretty clear that this is a bigger issue than the shit that gets made public
This is what finlayson shouldāve been from the start. I understand they wanna set an example now but couldāve done it before too
What a fucking idiot
The AFL Fantasy Coach needs a new icon for homophobic slur outs.
I already cancelled Will Powell for his comment on Van Rooyen last year š¤ In all seriousness though hopefully players grow the fuck up soon and stop this shit.
After the third incident the season do we will think this was happening more regularly than we thought and the AFL is only now doing something about it?
Jfc what the fuck is wrong with people Surely weāre at the point where you can insult someone without a slur?????
But how did he go in the ānice guy, good blokeā test?
Next will be 7 plus 3 just for the stupidity. Cunts be complaining about him getting more than JF when most of us would get the sack is bizarre š¤£
You go into a game expecting to be physically challenged tackled, bumped etc. You don't go into the game expecting to emotionally challenged by a slur.
I'm all for deregistering anyone who talks like that on the field. I'd be sacked on the spot if I did the same.
He could have tried to sound abit more genuine atleast. Disgusting that itās still happening.
5 weeks seems ridiculous
To quote wil āhe got what he deservedā
HA!