Former AFL player and coach Danielle Laidley has shared her thoughts on Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson’s recent suspension and the damage his use of a homophobic slur might have caused.
Finlayson was handed a three-match ban by the AFL’s integrity unit after he directed a gay slur towards an Essendon player during a game last week. The player will also have to undertake a training program with Pride in Sport.
Speaking to Christian Horgan on ABC Radio Perth’s Drive program, Laidley shared her thoughts on the AFL’s response.
Laidley said the slur used by Finlayson was one that the LGBTIQA+ communities around Australia would find derogatory and cutting.
While Finlayson was handed a three week ban, another recent incident involving North Melbourne coach Alistair Clarkson saw him slapped with a $20,000 fine and a suspended two-match ban.
Laidley said she would have liked to have seen the AFL bring in a system that would see players who make racist and homophonic comments face a suspended ban that lasts over the remainder of their playing or coaching careers.
The former coach said Finlayson had shown a lot of contrition and empathy in his apology over the comments.
“We all make mistakes. We’re all human, but the days are gone of saying ‘it was in the heat of the moment’. We’ve got to be better than that as a society.” Laidley said.
Laidley said she had no idea if the player the slur was directed at is gay or not, but it may have created a lot of anxiety.
“If there was any conversation about a gay footballer when I was playing and coaching, my anxiety and mental health just spiraled.” Laidley said, before highlighting that other players who may also be struggling with their sexuality may also have been affected.
“There’s a big ripple effect from someone saying just one word.” Laidley told the radio program.
Laidley said she believes that many AFL players who are gay are welcomed within their individual club’s culture, despite the game never having a player who has publicly shared that they are gay.
“There’s gay footballers, their families know, their teammates know, their football club knows. Within the environment of the inner sanctum of the AFL industry it’s not an issue.”
Laidley said she thinks the reason no player has ever publicly come out is because they don’t want to be remembered as being the first and just dubbed “the gay player”.
“Instead of being known as a great forward, or a great marking player, or a brilliant handballer, it’s the gay footballer. That’s a big burden to carry for an individual.”
Laidley said the punishment handed out to Finlayson was “fair but harsh”, but she would have liked to see the AFL take an approach where a shorter suspension was given, but also included a career-long suspended sentence that would kick in if there were any additional incidents.
Steve Price says there should have been no punishment
Television host Steve Price who appears on Chanel 10’s The Project alongside his own show on Sky News used his column in The Daily Telegraph to share his thoughts that the AFL had over-reacted.
Price said there should have been greater consideration that Finlayson’s wife Kellie is currently undergoing treatment for stage four colon cancer.
In Price’s mind an apology from Finlayson to the player he directed the slur at should have been where the matter ended.
“Common sense says that should have been the end of the matter. Problem is it’s 2024 and the world doesn’t work that way anymore, especially in the precious world of the AFL.” Price wrote in his column.
Price said it was unfair for people to accuse Finlayson of being homophobic, just because he used a homophonic slur.
“The definition of homophobia is someone who fears, hates or feels discomfort or, mistrust of people who are lesbian, gay or bisexual. Do the pile-on crowd seriously think that’s what Jeremy Finlayson is – homophobic?” Price asked.
Price said the response from the media, high profile Australians, and the AFL had been akin to World War III and people should just have accepted that Finlayson had a “brain fade” moment.
Caleb Bond says the response from the AFL was “overkill” and “hypocrisy”.
Sky News host Caleb Bond has also criticised the AFL for suspending Finlayson. Writing in The Adelaide Advertiser, Bond said the response had been overkill.
Bond said the slur used by Finlayson was highly offensive, and a word he would personally never allow to pass his own lips – but it was understandable that Finlayson has said it in the heat of the game.
“A three-match ban is purely finger-wagging performance art by the AFL.” Bond wrote.
Bond said the AFL had a double standard because they have been supportive of AFLW player Haneen Zreika opting to sit out the game’s Pride round because she is Muslim.
“So, according to the AFL, it is perfectly legitimate to believe that homosexuals are aberrant people who will be punished for eternity in hell and affirm that by refusing to participate in a game that supports gay people – however someone who likely has no philosophical opposition to homosexuality but stupidly utters a slur must be condemned.” Bond surmised.
