Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick believes the AFL has "painted (itself) into a corner" regarding the punishment that is bound for Adelaide superstar Izak Rankine's homophobic slur.
Rankine is currently being investigated for a phrase he directed towards a Collingwood player on Saturday night at Adelaide Oval.
The precedent set for such an offence has ranged between three and six weeks, which is also subject to a reduction if the player self-reported the incident, like West Coast's Jack Graham.
Port Adelaide's Jeremy Finlayson received a three-week suspension in early 2024, but has since seen the penalty increase for Graham (four weeks), Riak Andrew (five), Wil Powell (five) and Lance Collard (six).
It would mean the bar is set for Rankine to miss at least four weeks, which could be the Crows' entire finals series.
Hardwick, speaking on Fox Footy's AFL360, said the "challenge point" is a player can "belt a guy" and receive the same penalty as using a homophobic slur.
"By no means do I condone the behaviour of it, but I think the term of suspension is probably the challenge point that clubs feel," Hardwick told AFL 360.
"There's certainly no place for it (homophobic language) in the game … but at what stage (do we ask) what can we say and can't we say? This is completely on the ‘we cannot say this and we understand', but it's probably the penalty to me that I have a little bit of an issue with … It's a significant penalty, I feel.
"The challenge at the moment – and even me here, it's hard having the conversation – but what is it?
"We can have a player that belts a guy in the jaw and will get maybe five weeks. Then we use a term, which again I don't condone the behaviour, it's a term that should never be used on a football field, and we understand, but I think we've painted ourselves into a corner with regards to penalty and the length of penalty at the start."
Veteran journalist Jon Ralph believes that Adelaide is preparing to be without Rankine for the remainder of the season, given the AFL's stance on the matter previously.
"He (Rankine) didn't come forward post-match, he certainly didn't have fits of regret and then call anyone in the next 24 hours," Ralph said.
"He did, in his interview, speak about his contrition, his apology on Sunday to that player involved and the extenuating circumstances. But the base sanction here is five weeks. Even Jack Graham, who self-reported and got four, was extremely lucky.
"So I just can't see any way in which Rankine receives a three-week ban. I don't think the AFL will do it, or the AFL industry or wider industry would accept it.
"It could be four weeks – and if they (the Crows) lose a qualifying final and go the hard way through, he might be playing again (in a Grand Final). But it seems like it's likely he's played his last game this season."
Teammate and leader Taylor Walker revealed he shared a phone call with a "remorseful" Rankine, who stayed away from the West Lakes club on Monday.
"He's very remorseful and he understands that he's made a mistake and he'll accept whatever comes his way," Walker said on Tuesday morning on Triple M Breakfast with Roo, Ditts & Loz.
"He hasn't been outside. He had a full day of investigation with the AFL yesterday.
"We will support Ranks, however, we don't agree with what happened."
