Finlayson ‘offended’ by suspension, ‘rethinks’ comments

Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson says he “should have provided more context” for comments he made on his wife’s podcast when he said he was pissed off at having been banned for three matches for making a homophobic slur.

Finlayson appeared in a segment on his wife Kellie’s Sh!t Talkers podcast, in which hosts and guests highlight their “good, bad and offensive” talking points for the week.

Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson celebrates a goal in a game last year.

Part of the segment was later removed, and the episode re-uploaded.

“Your offensive?” Kellie asked. “Something that’s pissed you off?”

“My offensive is it pissed me off that I got a three-week suspension,” Finlayson said, to laughter from Kellie in the background. “That’s it. That’s tipped me over the edge. That’s about it. We’ll leave it there and [at] that and move on.”

On Wednesday afternoon, Finlayson released a statement via Port Adelaide saying he needed to address his comments.

“When rethinking my comments today, it’s clear that I should have provided more context,” he said.

“On reflection, I should have explained that I was bitterly disappointed that I said what I did during the game and I am bitterly disappointed that I put myself and the club in the position I did. That is what I am most upset with.

“What I said on the field that night was totally unacceptable. I knew that at the time and I know it now. I stress, I have no issue with the sanction at all.”

An AFL spokesperson said the league was disappointed in Finlayson’s podcast comments and reinforced that there was no place for homophobia in the game.

Finlayson was banned for directing a homophobic slur at an Essendon player during the third quarter of their round four clash in Adelaide. The 28-year-old had used the word “f—–” when abusing his opponent, with the slur picked up on the umpire’s microphone during the match.

Finlayson’s remorse, which the league stressed was expressed privately and publicly when it announced the penalty, was cited as the reason Finlayson wasn’t suspended for a longer stretch.

After the ban was announced, the players’ union accused the AFL of having double standards for players and coaches in terms of sanctions for homophobic language.

Earlier this year, North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson was penalised for allegedly using the word “c—sucker” during a verbal tirade towards St Kilda player Jimmy Webster after the Saint’s bump on one of Clarkson’s players.

Clarkson received a $20,000 fine, a suspended sentence of two matches and education for the allegedly homophobic spray.

As part of his penalty, Finlayson was required to pay for and attend “appropriate Pride in Sport training as approved by the AFL”.

Marsh said the AFLPA was concerned about the discrepancy between sanctions for players and officials.

“We believe the AFL is consistently inconsistent and there are double standards in its approach to dealing with players compared to others on behavioural matters,” Marsh said.

“This issue highlights the lack of clarity on how the AFL handles these situations, and we want this to be the catalyst for an urgent review of the sanctioning framework.”

Earlier this week, AFL Commission chair Richard Goyder defended the league’s decision to suspend Finlayson.

“I don’t think there’s a difference in the sense that the AFL has taken a very strong stance on that issue – and that stance is the most important thing,” Goyder said on Monday.

“We’ll look at the penalty … hopefully, this never happens again. If it does happen again, we’ll look at an appropriate penalty under the circumstances.

“Both penalties were a very strong signal from the AFL that there’s no place in our game for those sort of actions.”

Finlayson was suspended for Port’s win over Fremantle and will also miss games in rounds six and seven, and cannot play in the SANFL.

With AAP

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