St Kilda forward Lance Collard has been handed a nine-week ban with two weeks suspended for using a homophobic slur against a VFL opponent.
After hearing evidence from both the AFL and St Kilda, the AFL Tribunal deliberated for over 90 minutes before handing down its verdict, with Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson saying “homophobic slurs [are] entirely unacceptable”.
Collard was not afforded a discount on his suspension due to his history and the fact that he showed no remorse.
The two suspended weeks on Collard’s ban will be suspended over the next two AFL and VFL seasons.
The Tribunal’s verdict came despite St Kilda asking for Collard to be fined rather than be suspended.
St Kilda pointed to Collard’s troubled upbringing and the lack of a positive male role model during his formative years as a part of his defence.
St Kilda’s legal representative Michael Borsky KC argued the AFL’s proposed sanction of 10 weeks would be “unfairly punitive” and “potentially career-ending” for Collard.
“This is one of those sliding door moments that could set Lance Collard back on the wrong track and ruin his life,” Borsky, who is also a St Kilda board member
said.
“We respectfully ask the Tribunal to show some mercy and wisdom in helping the AFL course-correct.”
Borsky also compared the proposed sanction to a previous 10-week ban handed to then-Collingwood forward Jaidyn Stephenson in 2019 for betting on games as well as the decision to only seek a fine from Zak Butters for his exchange with a field umpire at the weekend.
The Saints also pointed to previous incidents where Dane Rampe and Dale Thomas received fines rather than bans for verbal umpire abuse.
“Sanctions in the order of 10 weeks have been historically reserved for more serious misconduct under Rule 2.3,” Borsky said.
St Kilda attempted to use the AFL’s fine to Zak Butters for umpire abuse as a part of its defence for Collard. (7 Sport)
“That’s plainly more serious to the league.
“The Tribunal needs to take into account how the community is going to reconcile these decisions … when others are getting fines.”
However, given Collard is a repeat offender, the AFL argued that the sanction handed down to him needed to be more severe than his previous sanction — a six-match ban.
“I think there needs to be an increased sanction for repeat offending,” the AFL’s legal counsel, Andrew Woods SC, said.
“There should be an increased sanction by matches, rather than way of fine to what happened last time.”
St Kilda reserves the right to appeal the Tribunal’s verdict and has five days to decide whether to do so.
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