Player Watch Jeremy Finlayson

[PAFC66]

Janey's comment about provocation was in response to Lauren Wood's comparison of the Finlayson and Clarkson situations where she said:

“Then they looked at the provocation. Finlayson was basically unprovoked, Clarkson’s situation, the environment was highly charged, he had St Kilda players coming at him (after the Jimmy Webster bump), he was going back at them.”

In this case it is entirely reasonable to ask the question was Finlayson provoked and if so, how?

This is a good point , I guess he wasn't as Jeremy would have mentioned thisduring discussions but as i understand the AFL integrity department never even spoke to Jeremy as of yesterday. Whereas I'm sure they spoke to clarko over a coffee post his slur.

On a more glaring point though , why should provocation matter when it comes to homophobic slurs? Wasn't this the same argument the AFL made when Clarkson punched a Port supporter in the head after a game? He was " provoked "

 

[Powerage]

This is a good point , I guess he wasn't as Jeremy would have mentioned thisduring discussions but as i understand the AFL integrity department never even spoke to Jeremy as of yesterday. Whereas I'm sure they spoke to clarko over a coffee post his slur.

On a more glaring point though , why should provocation matter when it comes to homophobic slurs? Wasn't this the same argument the AFL made when Clarkson punched a Port supporter in the head after a game? He was " provoked "

It is a clear double standard. The sad part for the queer community, and for football in general, is that most people will remember the backlash the AFL face for their double standard when it comes to sanctions, not the penalty Finlayson received. Particularly with the response from Walsh and the AFLPA.

 

[South of the Yarra]

We should accept the penalty and move on from that.

What we should be outraged about is that Port (and particularly Port's indigenous players) are routinely used as the precedent setters (indeed, some would say the scapegoats) for stances the AFL wish to take. Proof:

2005 Byron Pickett's bump gets an (at the time) unprecedented 6 week ban where many previous cases did not. To that point you could get half hour videos showcasing white, Victorian based players performing bumps of similar ilk that went unpunished

2015 Sam Powell-Pepper's minor night club indiscretion attracts an AFL investigation and penalty but later, De Goey is charged with sexual assault and even after he reaches a financial settlement with his victim, no AFL investigation is launched or penalty is imposed

2024 Sam Powell-Pepper's reflex bump gets 4 games as a precedent setter while Maynard's reflex bump which ends a player's career virtually 3 games earlier goes unpunished

2024 Jeremy Finlayson saying "f*****" gets 3 games while shortly before Angry Midget Clarkson's equally homophobic "c***sucker" comment gets no immediate suspension. This is despite Clarkson's many previous misdemeanours and the fact that his comments crossed the taboo line of player official interaction and were therefore worse (as I said above compare Player A grabbing opposition Player B by the scruff of the neck to Player A grabbing opposition Coach B by the scruff of the neck or Coach B grabbing opposition Player A by the scruff of the neck- that's what makes Clarkson's act 10 times worse than Finlayson's).

I do not debate the penalties handed out to the 4 Port indigenous players in any of the above cases. I simply call out the hypocrisy that lies behind the AFL's position. They wait until an indigenous player from a "smaller" non Victorian club transgresses before making a stance on

Excuse the intrusion. WhenI looked at these incidents in isolation I was fairly confident that punishments were not being given due to the fact that players are Aboriginal. I actually commented on this during the SPP suspension. Looking at the pattern presented though there seems to be an indication that perhaps Aboriginal players are being made scapegoats which is fairly symbolic of what has taken place to many Aboriginals over the past two hundred years.

 

[It Just Is]

We should accept the penalty and move on from that.

What we should be outraged about is that Port (and particularly Port's indigenous players) are routinely used as the precedent setters (indeed, some would say the scapegoats) for stances the AFL wish to take. Proof:

2005 Byron Pickett's bump gets an (at the time) unprecedented 6 week ban where many previous cases did not. To that point you could get half hour videos showcasing white, Victorian based players performing bumps of similar ilk that went unpunished

2015 Sam Powell-Pepper's minor night club indiscretion attracts an AFL investigation and penalty but later, De Goey is charged with sexual assault and even after he reaches a financial settlement with his victim, no AFL investigation is launched or penalty is imposed

2024 Sam Powell-Pepper's reflex bump gets 4 games as a precedent setter while Maynard's reflex bump which ends a player's career virtually 3 games earlier goes unpunished

2024 Jeremy Finlayson saying "f*****" gets 3 games while shortly before Angry Midget Clarkson's equally homophobic "c***sucker" comment gets no immediate suspension. This is despite Clarkson's many previous misdemeanours and the fact that his comments crossed the taboo line of player official interaction and were therefore worse (as I said above compare Player A grabbing opposition Player B by the scruff of the neck to Player A grabbing opposition Coach B by the scruff of the neck or Coach B grabbing opposition Player A by the scruff of the neck- that's what makes Clarkson's act 10 times worse than Finlayson's).

I do not debate the penalties handed out to the 4 Port indigenous players in any of the above cases. I simply call out the hypocrisy that lies behind the AFL's position. They wait until an indigenous player from a "smaller" non Victorian club transgresses before making a stance on issues.

Not to mention the close call of SPP getting a week for tackling Ben McEvoy. No sling, no double action, no medical report - McEvoy got up immediately, took the next ruck contest and played out the game.

The Tribunal took almost 3 hours to determine it was a fair tackle and SPP escaped.

That was the year before the crackdown on ‘sling’ tackles too.

 

[PortVic]

For the Essendon players to go hard on Jeremy in the investigation and the 3 weeks suspension. I think maybe the victim is gay and JF knew it. That’s the only scenario that fits the punishment.

 

[chiwigi]

For the Essendon players to go hard on Jeremy in the investigation and the 3 weeks suspension. I think maybe the victim is gay and JF knew it. That’s the only scenario that fits the punishment.

Also the player (rightly) not being named makes this plausible.

 

[PowerBaz]

Also the player (rightly) not being named makes this plausible.

If that is the case does Finlayson have half a brain? Why even go there it isn’t 1981.

 

[Schulzenfest]

For the Essendon players to go hard on Jeremy in the investigation and the 3 weeks suspension. I think maybe the victim is gay and JF knew it. That’s the only scenario that fits the punishment.

If that is true (and I'm not saying it is), then Finlayson is very lucky it was 3 and not 6.

 

[yepits2020]

Mark Robinson in todays paper states:

“So the well-known AFLW player who called her opponent a ‘f——t’ last season - which was heard by several players at the time and relayed to club officials after the game - she is lucky that an official report was not made to the AFL.

Because next time, if she was to be so stupid, it won’t be kept under wraps.”

If this is public, why is not the AFL investigating this. It was only last season. Why is not the LGBTIQ+ community not up in arms about the AFL not investigation and/or penalising this player? Why are the papers keeping the name of this person under wraps as we have a right to know who this player is? I have 100 more questions…..

Edit: if true , six weeks for not owning up and apologising. Club did not report it, looses all draft picks for two years.

 

[TazD]

Surely you're not serious? Almost Every second player within AFLW identifies with the LGBTQ+ community.
They had to make a stand. He had to get weeks. The frustration here is why Clarkson didn't and how they handled it.

 

[Macca19]

For the Essendon players to go hard on Jeremy in the investigation and the 3 weeks suspension. I think maybe the victim is gay and JF knew it. That’s the only scenario that fits the punishment.

Not really. Three weeks is fair whether the victim is or isnt gay.

 

[1954]

Like no doubt many on here I was originally extremely annoyed that Jezza had been suspended for 3 games, but on reflection, given he apologized almost immediately, was shown to have a fairly long discussion with the oppo captain post game, and more importantly the victim of the sledge has never been named has to at least suggest he may actually be gay and his identity has been protected, and if so Finlayson crossed a line he obviously shouldn't have and he needs to be a lot smarter than that.

The key to it will be the AFL being consistent with their penalties for any future breaches, and unfortunately with that particular organisation that is the great unknown.

 

[Peninsula Boy]

If Finlayson has said a homophobic slur to a gay person for hateful intent then that is not cool at all.

 

[Fizzler]

Have to feel he would’ve gotten a bigger suspension if that were the case. Tex got six after he said something directly pointed at Robbie Young’s skin colour. Half of that suspension if it’s not pointed at someone in the group mentioned would actually make a lot of sense.

 

[Handyandy]

Excuse the intrusion. WhenI looked at these incidents in isolation I was fairly confident that punishments were not being given due to the fact that players are Aboriginal. I actually commented on this during the SPP suspension. Looking at the pattern presented though there seems to be an indication that perhaps Aboriginal players are being made scapegoats which is fairly symbolic of what has taken place to many Aboriginals over the past two hundred years.

Anybody who has followed port in the last two decades knows the afl is racist.
Anytime one of our indigenous players gets reported they get huge standard setting bans. It’s a clear and obvious pattern over decades.
SPP got called a pos on the title of news.com then white vic player does an act twice as bad & the headline is ‘player x might be in trouble’
It’s called institutionalised racism & the afl are pros at it. The double standards are breathtaking

 

[TeeKray]

Occam's razor. It's much more likely that the AFL yet again delighted in making an example of an Indigenous Port Adelaide player than it is Jeremy Finlayson

11

Jeremy Finlayson

Age

28

Ht

197cm

Wt

93kg

Pos.

Fwd

Career

Season

Last 5

D

13.5

3star

K

9.9

4star

HB

3.6

3star

M

4.5

4star

T

1.4

3star

G

1.3

5star

D

7.0

1star

K

7.0

3star

HB

0.0

1star

M

1.0

1star

T

2.0

3star

G

1.0

4star

D

18.4

5star

K

12.6

5star

HB

5.8

4star

M

3.8

4star

T

1.6

4star

G

0.0

1star

vilified a closeted gay Essendon player.

 

[TazD]

Have to feel he would’ve gotten a bigger suspension if that were the case. Tex got six after he said something directly pointed at Robbie Young’s skin colour. Half of that suspension if it’s not pointed at someone in the group mentioned would actually make a lot of sense.

I reckon people overlook the threat of violence in Walkers sledge. That to me makes his worse.

 

[Fizzler]

I reckon people overlook the threat of violence in Walkers sledge. That to me makes his worse.

I never got to find out the exact words he said, which I assume is the case for a lot of people, so I never knew that. If I’m allowed to ask on here, does anyone know the specifics of what he said in that case (minus the exact slur used I suppose)?

 

[Pappagallo]

Not really. Three weeks is fair whether the victim is or isnt gay.

That’s a discounted 3 weeks remember for being contrite and apologising immediately. It’s probably 5 weeks without. Is that punishment proportional to the crime of using a homophonic slur towards a heterosexual player? I mean it’s a dumb thing to, doesn’t make any sense and deserves punishment but this seems over the top considering the lack of malice involved.

And where does that leave an actual case of vilification? You can’t have the same punishment for a much more serious crime. You’d have to go for 8-10 weeks, maybe even 12. In a few years we’ll have to start deregistering players with the escalation of penalties.

The AFL hasn’t learned a thing from the SPP case and has painted itself into a corner yet again.

 

[TeeKray]

I never got to find out the exact words he said, which I assume is the case for a lot of people, so I never knew that. If I’m allowed to ask on here, does anyone know the specifics of what he said in that case (minus the exact slur used I suppose)?

"Smash that b**** campaigner"

 

[bomberclifford]

Sorry, I somehow had you confused with 240volt.

That's banworthy.

 

[Handyandy]

https://amp.nine.com.au/article/e39a13fc-8ce2-48b0-ab7e-1ade7644aa9f

While the afl are busy being our moral guardians and setting new standards of wokeness for players they are busy compiling top ten lists of the most bangable young chicks in the office
Great culture
Love the bit about gill throwing his arms around the accused & welcoming them back to the fold asap.

 

[simba_]

the most important thing to come out of this is obviously a definitive list of what words have suspensions tied to them and how many weeks per word. since there's no room for bullsh!t like wiggling around terms like 'intentional, wreckless' etc. and it's literally just words being spoken, you can put it in black and white - "if you say X you get Y". obviously this won't happen because what it comes down to really is what team you play for and your profile in the industry

 

[Handyandy]

Let’s hire lip readers & a bunch of directional microphones. Stir up our opposition on the eve of finals then when they retaliate publish what’s said online.

In the old days no one would even bat an eyelid at what finny said. Surprised what woke wimps players are now.

Funny to hear how McRae sent lovey dovey texts to all his players. Asking them for kisses & cuddles. This woke shit has gone too far.

 

[raptalia]

It is obvious that this situation is being used by the gay activists as a vehicle to promote their cause. A good example was in this morning's press where some hitherto little known gay rights activist is calling for Finlayson to get 5 weeks in line with the Tex Walker penalty.

Jeremy put his hand up, accepted the penalty so I am moving on and leaving the queers to wallow in their indignation.