Lance Collard Has Ban Reduced After Board Says Homophobia ‘Commonplace’ In AFL

St Kilda player Lance Collard has received a reduced suspension over his latest homophobic slur after the AFL appeal board ruled the “highly competitive” nature of the game lent itself to racist, sexist and homophobic language.

Now serving a two week suspension with a further two-week penalty instead of his initial seven, Collard was found guilty of calling an opposing VLF player a “fucking faggot” last month, marking the second time in three seasons the 21-year-old has been found guilty of using homophobic language in a VFL match.

Although the appeals board supported the AFL disciplinary tribunal’s findings and dismissed St Kilda’s appeal, they agreed with the team’s lawyer Michael Borsky KC that the seven-week penalty was excessive, and ruled that the ban would have a “crippling” effect on Collard’s career.

“We observe that football is a hard game. It is highly competitive, particularly at its higher levels,” they wrote in their verdict. “It is commonplace that players can employ language from time to time which is racist, sexist or homophobic whilst on the field.

“We observe that it’s to the credit of the AFL and the Tribunal that its efforts to eliminate these comments appear to be succeeding.”

“Challenging period” for Collard, says team

The board noted that Collard was a young, Indigenous man with a “difficult background” and had been “roughed up and verbally challenged” by other players when he uttered the slur. They also cited the fact that the recipient of the homophobic comment, Frankston player Darby Hipwell, hadn’t been offended.

Collard was banned from six games after admitting to using the same homophobic slur on the field in 2024, with the appeals board commenting that the past incident was “probably far more serious than the present offence”.

In a statement, St Kilda said they were disappointed the charge had been upheld, but welcomed the lightened sentence and called for greater transparency in the AFL tribunal system.

“The club remains focused on supporting Lance throughout what has been a challenging period and asks for his privacy as he makes his return to play,” they said.

“Despite the reduction in sanction, St Kilda remains disappointed with how the matter was assessed and believes greater consistency and clarity in the AFL’s tribunal process is important moving forward.”