Greetings All,
There has been much said and not enough done with respect to Izak’s brain fade, while Adelaide justifiably wants to minimise the penalty it is surely cut and dried that he misses the finals. He was on the other side last year when Dan Houston bumped him into next week and blew his finals campaign.
The broader issue at play is that the insult used is still in the vernacular of society – if players are using it on the ground, then we can be certain it is used elsewhere. This is what makes the issue so important. We have not removed racism from society but are much more aware and informed of the damage racist language causes because of the attention paid to it by the likes of the AFL. They need to be as strong now with respect to homophobia and have been so until this week, the suspension should have been handed down on Monday with Adelaide free to challenge after the fact rather than having a negotiation before it is handed down. Arguing that finals should be considered for his penalty is rubbish, just ask Jason Cloke.
Now onto the footy! It’s been a wild ride for the finals bound clubs with six teams locking in their September berths in the penultimate round. The season closes for 9 of the other clubs this weekend with the Bombers required to endure one more game in the middle of next week. For the Dogs and Dockers, it all comes down to this game. The loser should not lament that they have won 14 or 15 games and not made it. That is purely an outlier because of the two-tiered competition that season 2025 has been.
Has Some Merrett (10%) vs It’s good to be the King (90%)
2025 comes to an end for the Blues while the Bombers go one more. Sounds it is the end for TDK at the Blues in his 100th game. Not sure how much choice he has with the money St Kilda have offered. For the Bombers, the Skipper Zack Merrett returns for game 250, has been such a great servant for the club. He and Sheil coming in strengthens the team after a solid performance last week. The Blues lose a couple but give chances to another couple of young players after a good performance against a listless Port Adelaide last week. Essendon will be plucky and a repeat of last week will make it tough, but the Blues should have enough experience to close the season with successive victories.
Thanks for the Membrey (91%) vs Finally Gawn (9%)
The Pies have had their battles up forward lately, but Tim Membrey has kept fronting up – he plays game 200 after crossing from the Saints. They look well placed despite the loss to the Crows, with a win here likely to lock in a top four finish. They take on the Dees who were ordinary last week after their heroic efforts on the back of the coach’s sacking against the Dogs. It showed they are capable but seems the season can’t come to an end quickly enough. The best of the Dees could make it difficult, but Collingwood have too much to play for and should put this one away.
They’ve Killed Kenny (8%) vs Giant Slayed (92%)
Port was poor last week, will they lift to send off Ken Hinkley and Travis Boak? Their best at home will challenge Gold Coast who fluffed their lines at home last week against the Giants. Added to the Suns challenge is that they have never won at Adelaide Oval. A loss is not fatal with another game against Essendon next week, but a win will give them some chance of top four. If the Suns can be close to their best they should salute.
Studio 54 (3%) vs Closing Ranks (97%)
Great effort from Harry Sheezel to collect 54 possessions last week, will need another mighty effort to defeat Adelaide. The Crows do have their own challenge to remain focussed after a difficult week dealing with the Izak Rankine investigation.
Kam Done (0.2%) vs Axeman Ready (99.8%)
The Tigers will send off Kamdyn McIntosh, has been such a great servant for the club. It’s a tough one against the Cats who have their own celebration with their midfield dynamo Tom Atkins playing game 150.
Dog Bitten (5%) vs Cat Scratched (95%)
West Coast and Sydney were both damaged by domestic pets last week, suspect Sydney will close the season out with a win.
Harry Who (%) vs The Nasiah Complex (%)
It’s game 200 for Harry Himmelberg. He has been a beauty for the Giants being able to play in defence and attack providing great flexibility for his club. They take on the buoyant Saints who are celebrating the re-signing of Wanganeen-Milera, has taken his game to such a high level it is little wonder it has generated such excitement. Saints have won their last four against the battlers of the competition, this week the Giants will be a challenge, and they will make it difficult. Just think the Giants at home will be too good.
Which Drinks? (89%) vs Anchors Away (11%)
What beverages will the Dogs be drinking Sunday Night – end of season beers or a quick celebratory bubbles before preparation for finals? Whichever one they do Freo will be the opposite. The Bulldogs have been so good in the Loungeroom all year, have such a strong midfield and powerful forward targets it is hard to see how the Dockers can get over them. The midfield is capable of competing with Luke Jackson matching up well with the Bont, the defence is well organised and could quell Naughton and Darcy. The Freo forwards are more than capable against the Bullldogs defence if the ball gets down there. They have also corrected their record away from Perth winning four of their last five on the road, three of those against finals bound teams. But everything would need to go right and suspect the Bulldogs to get control early and put this one away.
Great Dayne (71%) vs The Derringer (29%)
Dayne Zorko has been such a great player for the Lions and celebrated his upcoming 300th with contract extending him into 2026. They take on the Hawks at home and will need to look after the Antique Gun, after a brief sojourn north Gunston has returned and is in vintage form. The likely prize for this game will be a top four finish. In 2025 Brisbane have not been as good at the Gabba and have suffered injuries at the wrong time of the year, losing Hipwood and probably Jarrod Berry. Suspect the loss of Eric will be important as he always takes a good defender, Logan Morris likely to get more attention. With that suspect the Hawks might have enough of an advantage to take this one.
Just for the record expect that Gold Coast will prevail over the Bombers to close out the season next Wednesday.
Go Blues
Cheers, Sal
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Vehemently disagree – Sal 1 We all agree Izak was stupid
2 Calling it a work place when in reality it’s not a normal workplace- Houston allegedly saying you’re going off on a stretcher again doesn’t happen in everyday work
3 Personally saying 1 word isn’t as bad as a full blast of vitriol
4 Because previous players who have committed these offenses aren’t big names the media haven’t bothered to highlight the penalties previously it’s taken a star player and finals for this to be pointed out
5 Importantly now days the overwhelming majority don’t bat a eyelid re a person’s sexuality- not like years ago – I have asked a couple of gay mates who says all it does is show a weakness in the person making the remark
6 Consistently increasing a penalty does not fix any problem history shows that
7 Leaking information beforehand is disgraceful- if this was a legal matter it would be dismissed re attempting to influence a jury
8 Lack of transparency causes bafflement
9 COMMON SENSE – penalty is massive overs
10 AFL being the moral police yet having-Snoop Dog is mind boggling
Racism is a far far bigger issue in society currently
Will agree to disagree Malcolm
1 – Yes stupid, probably deserved a loading for that
2 – Agree on calling it a workplace is not quite right. While a workplace has it’s animosities they are theoretically all on your team. No matter what Dan said – there are words that are off limits, Izak’s is one of them.
3 – Maybe a full blast of vitriol also need to be looked at.
4 – The media reaction was initially appropriate based on the criteria you stated. What made this worse was the time it took for the AFL to hand down it’s verdict, all other cases the penalties came out quickly and with little discussion.
5 – The overwhelming majority might be correct – however the minority left behind can be pretty ugly and pretty vocal. The Alt Right hasn’t got too many members but we certainly hear from them.
6 – Izak got a reduced penalty. It is of concern that the harsh penalties are not reducing the occurrence, just not sure what the alternatives are. It does seem to have sorted out the racist stuff after Tex but we can’t be sure.
7 – Agree
8 – Agree
9 – We all know the problem with common sense! Have heard plenty of comments that you can punch an opponent and only get a fine or 3 weeks for a bump that results in concussion. I have regularly provided my thoughts on the lack of transparency and adequacy of the system in place. However the issue of racism and homophobia should be through a more societal lens.
10 – Left this one out of my piece, but I ostensibly agree with you. I did not feel qualified to comment on Mr Dogg or his music as I would not cross the road to see him perform and will be ensconced in a bar on GF Day when he is on. The Dill justifies it by saying he has performed at the Olympics and the Superbowl, maybe those organisations also got it wrong.
Racism and Homophobia are issues in society and it’s not a contest – what we are addressing is the explicit and obvious cases. More complex and challenging is addressing the invidious forms of implicit and endemic biases we have in society.
Maybe the AFL is not the right vehicle to address the changes we need in attitudes and society. But then what other organisation apart from NRL has the attention of the masses.
Like it or not, the AFL have determined that this language is off limits and have established a clear precedent for the penalties to be applied in these circumstances.
The AFL should have handed down the penalty on Monday morning and then allowed the player/club to appeal their decision and/or penalty from there.
Rankine’s fate was sealed once it was confirmed that he said what he was alleged to have said.
To allow him a lesser penalty is unfair to the previous cases that have been used to establish the precedent.
I agree that slurs of this nature say more about the person making the remark, than those on the receiving end.
I also agree that it is an issue that this language is still in use.
In the heat of the moment you don’t tend to pull out new insults, you go with what automatically comes to mind.
It disappoints me that a young bloke had this insult in his kit bag.
Maybe they need to work it into their training drills?
Some of the plethora of coaches/staffers could be tasked with running up to random players during a drill and threatening to knock them out, or calling out their lack of physical toughness.
The player would need to respond with something more appropriate such as “piss off idiot” or even “fuck off dickhead” in more extreme cases. Saying nothing would also be an appropriate response.
Failure to respond appropriately would result in training being halted and the entire playing group running a couple of laps.
Just a thought.
Snoop Dogg seemed an odd ‘fit’ even before the Rankine incident.
If there had been actual common sense used and a 1 or 2 game penalty and a fine put in place and education and that was the system and then huge increase re a players -2nd offense the game overall would be better off transparency happening but sadly -2025 has been a dogs breakfast re afl administration wise and that’s being polite.
FINALLY the players association come out and comment re the ridiculous penalty – bitterly disappointing that they didn’t try and help initially re -Finlayson-Powell etc