Adelaide, Be Better: Crows Fans Jeer & Boo Over Homophobic Slur Incident
Image: Photo: AFL Photos
Amid the charged atmosphere of last night鈥檚 Elimination Final between the Adelaide Crows and Collingwood Magpies, the homophobic slur story that’s dominated headlines for weeks continued to play out 鈥� now not on the field, but in the stands.
As Collingwood defender Isaac Quaynor returned to Adelaide Oval following a searing homophobic slur directed at him by Izak Rankine just a few weeks prior, the response from some Crows fans was anything but welcome.
Instead of standing for decency 鈥� or even at the very least, silence 鈥� they booed Quaynor incessantly through the 24-point loss.
In a statement released Friday morning, the Club kept it very brief.
“We want members and footy fans to be barracking and passionate,” read the Crows’ statement.
“However they should do so respectfully and any behaviour contrary to that is disappointing and not appropriate.”
Izak Rankine鈥檚 homophobic slur and its consequences
In Round 23, Adelaide forward Izak Rankine spat out a homophobic slur toward a Collingwood player.
The AFL levied a four-game suspension, effectively ending Rankine’s season and leaving him to watch from the stands.
Rankine address media for the first time on Tuesday night.
In a tightly controlled press conference at Adelaide Airport, Rankine told media he was 鈥渄eeply sorry鈥� for his remark and that he was 鈥渄isappointed鈥� in himself.
鈥淭here was no excuse. It was wrong and I take full responsibility,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 disappointed in myself and I know I have let a lot of people down. I want to apologise to anyone who I have hurt and offended. I understand that word was offensive, harmful, it鈥檚 hurtful and has no place in our game or our society.鈥�
Rankine stated that he was in 鈥渘o way a victim鈥� and would be working to gain 鈥渆veryone鈥檚 trust back鈥�.
鈥淚n the next few days I will be standing in front of my teammates and the AFLW and apologising to them personally 鈥� and they deserve this at the very least.鈥�
Mitch Brown’s coming out
Not long after Rankine’s slur, former West Coast defender Mitch Brown publicly came out as bisexual 鈥� the first openly bisexual player in the entirety of AFL’s history, and a seismic moment for the league and Australian LGBTQIA+ history.
It was met with support and celebration, but it also magnified the toxic response to Rankine鈥檚 bigotry and exposed how deeply homophobia still lingers in footy culture.
Disappointing disrespect from Crows fans
It is a heartbreaking irony: rather than rejecting Rankine鈥檚 homophobia with chants of unity, sections of the crowd chose to boo the person who copped the homophobic slur in the first place.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae was blunt:
“It is disappointing, not just Isaac but Dan [Houston]…
“When I first heard it, I thought, jeez that’s disappointing. I’m really proud of him and Dan and others. We’ll protect our players as best we can, we’ll love and support them around the edges and we’ll celebrate this one.”
鈥淪tay classy, Crows fans,鈥� said Triple M鈥檚 Kate McCarthy on-air She later聽 tweeted 鈥渂ooing someone for calling out homophobia is truly something isn鈥檛 it.鈥�
It鈥檚 profoundly disappointing that, in what should have been a moment to rally behind consequences for homophobia, a faction of Adelaide fans chose instead to perpetuate it.
If our footy clubs and fans can鈥檛 rise above the din to choose empathy over contempt, we risk normalising the very things our broader communities are striving to fight. That some Crows fans booed a player for being targeted by hate isn鈥檛 just poor sportsmanship 鈥� it鈥檚 a setback for us all. And frankly, we deserve better than that. Adelaide fans: be better.聽
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