Matthew Lloyd has said there would be “uproar” if Izak Rankine received a three-game ban and the Essendon legend countered Adelaide‘s reported push for finals matches to be weighted differently to those in the regular season.
The AFL is expected to reveal its suspension for Rankine on Thursday after it was alleged the Adelaide star directed a homophobic slur at a Collingwood player during Saturday’s match.
Eddie McGuire reported on Nine’s Footy Classified on Tuesday night that the AFL had decided on a ban of five matches for Rankine, which would be in keeping with precedent.
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It would also rule Rankine out for the season and dent the ladder-leading Crows’ chances of winning their first flag since 1998.
“I thought he would get five weeks,” Lloyd said on Nine’s Today.
“Three weeks feels too light, which would allow him certainly to play on grand final day if the Crows can get there.
Izak Rankine. Getty
“If they go four weeks and it sits in the middle, he would need the Crows to lose their first final for him to be able to play in the grand final.
“I can’t see him getting three [games]. I think there would be a real uproar, because the previous players who have made homophobic slurs have got around the five-week mark.”
Rankine is set to become the sixth AFL-listed player to be sanctioned for making a homophobic slur across the past two seasons.
The five players who have been sanctioned in that time — Jeremy Finlayson, Wil Powell, Lance Collard, Jack Graham and Riak Andrew — received suspensions ranging from three to six matches, depending on factors such as the severity of the slur and whether they self-reported.
“It’s amazing when it becomes a high-quality player like Izak Rankine and there’s a grand final on the line, suddenly so much more is taken into it like this because of so much being on the line,” Lloyd said.
“But there have been a lot of lesser players who have just copped five weeks, and they’ve had to move on with it.”
Many players in VFL/AFL history have been scrubbed from finals, including grand finals, because of suspensions.
Former West Coast star Andrew Gaff copped an eight-week suspension in 2018 for punching Fremantle opponent Andy Brayshaw.
The Eagles went on to win the premiership, and Gaff was in tears in the middle of the MCG after the game, devastated he wasn’t involved.
“We’ve seen so many players miss finals and grand finals for a suspension where you whack someone or hit someone, and it isn’t weighted because of finals at all,” Lloyd said.
“I know that’s what the Adelaide Crows are aiming for and looking at, but I’ve never seen it really come into the game at AFL level.”
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