MRP / Trib. Will Powell (GC Suns) Banned for 5 rounds for using a homophobic slur during their loss to Brisbane.

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If that's what's happened, then he was accidentally homophobic. That's hardly vitriolic. The penalty is way too harsh.

You might be surprised here - but 99% of people can actually avoid saying crook shit in the workplace. It wasn't an accident, he just accidentally got caught out.
 
He copped 20K. More than enough. It wasn't even a homophobic slur imo.

I guess that is the thing. Does the AFL have a list of bad words with penalties associated, like they do with their Low/High contact, Low/Medium/High/Severe severity, etc.

Or does any bad word get treated the same, and the list gets updated annually to ensure new words dont sneak through.
 
Is it really that hard to get your head around?

Precedent has been set, player chooses to offend, rightly so gets more severe punishment.

Would there be as many “what happened to sticks and stones” replies if it were a racist comment?

Get both types of comments out of the game.
 

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I guess that is the thing. Does the AFL have a list of bad words with penalties associated, like they do with their Low/High contact, Low/Medium/High/Severe severity, etc.

Or does any bad word get treated the same, and the list gets updated annually to ensure new words dont sneak through.

Most players would be well aware of what is/is not acceptable to say.

Why does someone need a list to determine whether something is “bad”?

It’s not particularly difficult.
 
Most players would be well aware of what is/is not acceptable to say.

Why does someone need a list to determine whether something is “bad”?

It’s not particularly difficult.

Most players would be aware that if you punch a guy you are going to get some sort of penalty. Or jump when you bump. Or hit late. Etc.

That isnt difficult either. Yet every week we see someone getting a week or more.
 
Most players would be aware that if you punch a guy you are going to get some sort of penalty. Or jump when you bump. Or hit late. Etc.

That isnt difficult either. Yet every week we see someone getting a week or more.
The punishment continues to become more severe since an example was made out of Finlayson and the intention is to send a message to stamp it out through harsher penalties. Players would absolutely be aware (including Powell) that making comments along the line of Finlayson’s would subject them to a heftier penalty.
 
of course it matters. It matters enough for the AFL to declare it a sexist slur and suspend the guy for 5 weeks. It would be nice to know what they consider to be so evil when "C**K Suckers was not so bad.
Homophobic*. And no, it doesn’t matter. It obviously wasn’t the one you mentioned.

If someone made a racist remark, would you want to know what, and how would you grade it?
 
Does hip and shouldering someone in the head, concussing them, have a larger impact on that one individual than one person using a single slur on another individual? Most likely (although not definitely). But that isn't what happens when you use a slur like this. Think of when a racist slur is used, whether on field, on social media or wherever else.

There are a lot of people in the community who would've been insulted either by what was said, or even THAT it was said (without even knowing the word, the fact that there are people so openly being homophobic is insulting enough).

What if it was someone in your group of friends or family and that was their trigger? There's a reason the entire competition takes notice when racism comes out, because it impacts more than just the individual whom the racism is targeted at. It impacts the communities of already marginalized families hoping the people they look up to don't look down on them.
 
Seriously what a farcical decision. Whatever happened to sticks and stones.

On elite sporting fields, it is a tough domain. You need to be physically & mentally in top shape. Your opposition will try anything to put you off your game, as the winner takes the spoils.

In the heat of battle, a lot of things are said. To me there has always been a line, off field / on field. Don’t blur the two.

My coach used to say, “ignore them, whilst they are flapping their lips, you’re running off with the ball”.
 

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To anyone who says it's too harsh, just imagine if you said that to someone in your workplace. You'd be lucky to not get fired.
Comparing a tough, hard game of footy on a footy field where you're exhausted and getting bumped, smashed and hit... to an office job.
🤔
 
What would happen if 2 players having a push n shove used a homophobic slur against each other?
You’re gay, no you’re gay, you’re gay, no you’re gay
Etc, etc
Would they both be suspended?
Would the suspension be based on the number of times each player repeated the slur?
What if they were both gay? Is it a slur then?
 
What would happen if 2 players having a push n shove used a homophobic slur against each other?
You’re gay, no you’re gay, you’re gay, no you’re gay
Etc, etc
Would they both be suspended?
Would the suspension be based on the number of times each player repeated the slur?
What if they were both gay? Is it a slur then?

What if dogs could fish?
 
As a suns fan and member, this sucks but if he said something homophobic, he deserves a suspension.
Should it be 5 weeks? Well if the AFL said future cases would get more, then i guess thats their policy and so be it

but

i guarantee if in Round 24, if one of Daicos, Kurnow, Neale, Heeney, Rankine, Butters, Greene, Dangerfield, Petracca, Reid, Martin, Bont - you get the picture, suddenly that more weeks for future offences, will evaporate...
And thats the disappointing aspect
The media would be given a cease and desist notice to not report it at all.
As that would impact the AFLs finals revenue.
 
no, the penalty is inconsistent

Then it sounds like your issue is with insufficient penalties for physical assaults in the field. In which case, make a thread about that, because invoking it in here makes you just look like a disingenuous fool at best, and at worst, something much more nefarious.

You’ve practically made this thread unreadable.
 
What would happen if 2 players having a push n shove used a homophobic slur against each other?
You’re gay, no you’re gay, you’re gay, no you’re gay
Etc, etc
Would they both be suspended?
Would the suspension be based on the number of times each player repeated the slur?
What if they were both gay? Is it a slur then?

What if a player chastises themselves for their own sissy effort?

Or what if they call someone an a** f**ker :think:
 
Assuming there are somehow different societal rules just because your occupation is kicking a ball around.
🤔
But there are? Dont get police assault charges laid for striking do you. And there is cctv evidence (thats a dig at channel 7 potato cameras)
 
But there are? Dont get police assault charges laid for striking do you.
Matthews did, Coward Barry Hall probably should have.
 
Just in case it needs to be pointed out, the following arguments are embarrassingly shit and anyone who uses them should be profoundly ashamed.

1. “What happened to sticks and stones? Nothing, other than it being anachronistic, unscientific, twee boomer nonsense from an entire generation who have unsafe levels of lead in their brain tissue.

2. “You get less suspension for hitting a bloke”. There is only two obvious conclusions that can be drawn from this… either you are secretly against punishing homophobia and are too gutless to expose your real reasons why, or you simply have an issue with a lack of action against physical violence. If it’s the latter, start a seperate thread about that. If it’s the former, get in the bin.

3. “How come people can still make fun of rangas?” This is a ridiculous false equivalency. How do I know? Because I am a ranga, but I also have a brain.

4. “I’m not mad about the suspension, I am just mad about a future hypothetical around a hypothetical finals series where they are hypothetically inconsistent with this rule.” See question 2. The fact you have to concoct a hypothetical scenario to find a way to criticise this decision means you are secretly opposed to punishing homophobia for a different reason you aren’t brave or stupid enough to admit, or you need to cool your jets until something resembling the hypothetical happens for real. I mean, every rule can be applied inconsistently, so do we just not bother at all?

5. “Blah blah woke…. Blah virtue signalling…. blah blah why is everyone such an offended snowflake.” Ah yes, the bleating and accusations of being a snowflake and being told to harden up by a bunch of weirdos who thought the world was ending when a brand of cheese changed its name. Log out of Facebook, turn off Sky News, and touch some ****ing grass.
 
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Just in case it needs to be pointed out, the following arguments are embarrassingly s**t and anyone who uses them should be profoundly ashamed.

1. “What happened to sticks and stones? Nothing, other than it being anachronistic, unscientific, twee boomer nonsense from an entire generation who have unsafe levels of lead in their brain tissue.

2. “You get less suspension for hitting a bloke”. There is only two obvious conclusions that can be drawn from this… either you are secretly against punishing homophobia and are too gutless to expose your real reasons why, or you simply have an issue with a lack of action against physical violence. If it’s the latter, start a seperate thread about that. If it’s the former, get in the bin.

3. “How come people can still make fun of rangas?” This is a ridiculous false equivalency. How do I know? Because I am a ranga, but I also have a brain.

4. “I’m not mad about the suspension, I am just mad about a future hypothetical around a hypothetical finals series where they are hypothetically inconsistent with this rule.” See question 2. The fact you have to concoct a hypothetical scenario to find a way to criticise this decision means you are secretly opposed to punishing homophobia for a different reason you aren’t brave or stupid enough to admit, or you need to cool your jets until something resembling the hypothetical happens for real. I mean, every rule can be applied inconsistently, so do we just not bother at all?

5. “Blah blah woke…. Blah virtue signalling…. blah blah why is everyone such an offended snowflake.” Ah yes, the bleating and accusations of being a snowflake and being told to harden up by a bunch of weirdos who thought the world was ending when a brand of cheese changed its name. Log out of Facebook, turn off Sky News, and touch some ******* grass.

u ok?
 

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MRP / Trib. Will Powell (GC Suns) Banned for 5 rounds for using a homophobic slur during their loss to Brisbane.

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