BEN MCCLELLAN: Izak Rankine made a bad mistake but the AFL and public punishment may ruin the Crows star

If the AFL wanted to break Izak Rankine, it’s safe to say they have achieved that goal.

The 25-year-old, who made a vile comment that is clearly unacceptable in today’s society, has now returned to Australian shores and, as expected, was trotted out to a waiting media scrum to read out a well-prepared and heartfelt apology.

Today he has apologised to his Crows teammates and is also due to apologise to the club’s AFLW team, which is more important given the prevalence of female players in same-sex relationships in that league.

Adelaide, under pressure and criticised for letting Rankine effectively flee the country after his four-game ban, decided that having him make a public apology — despite having already apologised via a statement when he was banned — would keep the wolves at bay in the media and wider society.

But whether that will happen is yet to be seen. By giving the TV channels their sound bite, which is now being played ad nauseam, there is less chance of camera crews hunting for the now disgraced star all over the City of Churches.

Saying sorry is important when we make an error or offend someone, but is making young men stand up in front of dozens of flashing lights and watching them flail themselves them publicly the best way to make amends?

Seven years ago, it was heartbreaking watching two of our greatest cricketers, Steve Smith and David Warner, break down as they were also forced to publicly apologise for Sandpaper Gate.

Cheating to win a cricket game was clearly a crime against sport, and both players —Smith more so — have gone a long way since then to rehabilitate their reputations. What Smith and Warner did went against everything the hallowed game of cricket stands for, but when Smith was a blubbering mess confessing his shame at disgracing his father, it was one of the saddest moments in Australian sport.

Rankine managed to hold himself together and politely thanked the media after his short statement, but he was visibly distressed and terrified.

While the club would have been criticised, an in-house produced apology video, preferably before he jetted off to Italy, may have been a better option.

And would it not be better for Rankine to spend time with those who have been subjected to homophobic abuse and violence to better understand why using the word ‘f…..’ is so harmful than a sheepish public apology to make us all feel better about ourselves? None of the AFL players banned for making homophobic slurs have lost more than Rankine, who has missed out on playing his first AFL final and is unlikely to play in the grand final.

In what now appears to be an act of cruelty, the AFL reduced his ban from an expected five games to four because of a compelling medical submission relating to his mental health.

This means he can only play again this season if the Crows lose to Collingwood tomorrow night and then go on to win through the finals to the grand final.

And given his mental health was a factor in lessening his ban, surely having him do what most people fear the most— speak publicly —was not the best course of action.

Crows coach Matthew Nicks claimed today his sidelined star was in a “good space,” but given the seemingly never-ending public shaming he is enduring, will he be able to bounce back on the field?

Again, making the bigoted slur should not go unpunished, but Rankine himself has been subjected to horrid online racial abuse, which led to a Brisbane fan having their membership revoked last year so he knows full well the hurt vilification can cause.

As an Indigenous footballer, he has faced many challenges to get where he is, so a less vindictive approach to his rehabilitation might be a wiser strategy given the plight of Indigenous players in the AFL, with their numbers dwindling.

The whole saga has been uncomfortable to watch from the start, and while it is noble the AFL wants to stamp out homophobia with drastic sanctions, it’s hard not to feel like everyone is losing out in how this is being handled — including Izak Rankine.

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