Rankine’s calls to Crows AFLW stars before trip; records galore… but at what cost? Talking Points

How the Crows briefed their AFLW players in the wake of Izak Rankine’s homophobic slur.

Plus the hidden cost of a record round, holding the ball inconsistency and a Dees watch.

Fox Footy expert Chyloe Kurdas speaks to foxfooty.com.au to dissect the AFLW Round 2 Talking Points!

Watch every match of the 2025 NAB AFL Women’s Season LIVE ad-break free during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

A W PERSPECTIVE: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM LATEST HOMOPHOBIC SLUR

When news emerged of Izak Rankine’s mid-game homophobic slur – and Adelaide’s, ultimately successful, push to have any AFL-driven suspension reduced – many immediately sympathised with the Crows’ AFLW playing group.

One of eight inaugural teams, Matthew Clarke’s side has been a perennial contender in the competition, winning three flags and capturing the hearts of fans with their professionalism, talent and strong team culture.

And, like all AFLW playing lists, several Crows players are part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Rankine has copped some criticism for not speaking publicly and flying out of the country to escape the spotlight in the wake of his four-match ban.

But foxfooty.com.au understands Rankine made a call to both Crows co-captain Ebony Marinoff, as well as three-time Adelaide premiership skipper Chelsea Randall – a development coach in the Crows men’s program – before leaving for Europe. It’s also expected Rankine will address the Adelaide AFLW playing list upon his return next week.

On top of Rankine’s calls to the two senior Crows, club chief executive Tim Silvers also spoke to Adelaide’s AFLW players three times last week, while men’s captain Jordan Dawson, too, addressed the group about the situation.

Nicks: Rankine is not the victim | 10:52

The sense, therefore, is the Crows AFLW program has been well briefed and included during a difficult week for the club.

While no male player has ever ‘come out’ in AFL history, the LGBTQIA+ community is well entrenched, accepted and celebrated in the AFLW environment, essentially since the first season in 2017.

Kurdas said there’d been progress in stamping out homophobia in the AFL space, but stressed there was more room to improve.

“Previously, it’s not even that it would be swept under the carpet, but Australian football being a very hyper masculine environment for 160 years … it’s not they’ve been silent on it, but there have been active proponents of homophobia and sexism over many years – and the sport has contributed, I believe, to a culture where homophobia and sexism have been OK,” Kurdas said.

“I think what’s really important now is that the sport – and the industry more broadly – plays a role in changing that position and creating a better future.

“For a long time, the sport has been part of the problem. I now want the sport to be part of the solution – and that has to be showing up with integrity in moments like this and doing it differently.

“I would love the conversation to be: ‘We’ve gotten it wrong for a really long time and we now want to be part of the reason why people feel safe, they feel more included, they feel welcome, they’re looked after and that we have a better community overall for everyone.’ That’s where I feel like they’ve missed the opportunity here.”

Kurdas said she had mixed feelings about the Rankine punishment and how it was handled.

“I have a foot in each camp,” she said. “I think it’s a real positive that we’re having this conversation because how many blokes have played footy over the years and just had to endure this kind of behaviour and just put up and shut up? And that’s not OK.

AFLW wrap: Crows, Dons, Roos & Dogs win | 01:50

“I think it’s great now that there’s culture safety within the playing space for players to speak up and that people will be held to account for poor behaviour.

“The disappointing element to it is that when we’ve looked at the other cases when players have owned it, really cut and dry, and gone ‘yes, I said this’ – and there doesn’t seem to be any dispute that Rankine said this – but the desire to get a bit of leniency in the sentence, rather than just own it, I think it’s done a lot more damage to Rankine, the club and I guess our desire as a sport to move forward in this space and create safer workplaces.

“I understand what’s at stake in terms of finals, but it’s just never OK – and it wouldn’t be OK in any workplace. There wouldn’t be any workplace where you could say something like that and you wouldn’t be disciplined and you wouldn’t get the sack. So why is it OK and why is there this piece around arguing for a level of leniency when every other person that has been in this situation has gone ‘yep’ and the club’s gone ‘yep, we’ll just cop whatever comes our way’?

“I know they talked about compelling medical reasons, but both of those things can be true at the same time. Yes, it can be very compelling or a high level of support that’s required for the individual – I’m not talking about Rankine in this situation – but there’s always two things. The wellbeing of the person that’s offended, absolutely, and how we can support that person and look after that person and make sure that they’ve got the right counselling, support, guidance and education to move forward … there’s got to be room for atonement. The second part to that is it doesn’t excuse behaviour and there’s got to be a level of accountability.

“So I think about the wellbeing of the people that were impacted by that behaviour of Rankine. We all make an assumption that’d be spectators and the W players, but also there could possibly have been a same-sex attracted player on the opposite team or in the Adelaide Crows team that now feels they’re safe – what about the wellbeing of those people? That conversation for me hasn’t been strong enough, that we need to take into account the wellbeing of the people who potentially are on the end of that sledge.”

Silvers supports 'remorseful' Rankine | 08:02

SUPERSTAR’S ‘NATURAL HUMILITY’ DRIVING GREATNESS

If you thought pre-season North Melbourne superstar captain Jasmine Garner would be satisfied with what she’s achieved so far in the AFLW, it’s time to reassess.

She already boasts one of the AFLW’s best CVs – a premiership player, grand final best on ground winner, seven-time All-Australian, five-time Kangaroos best and fairest, three-time club leading goalkicker, two-time AFLPA MVP and three-time AFLCA MVP – but Garner is clearly hungry for more.

After kicking 1.1 from 25 disposals and 12 tackles against Geelong in Round 1, Garner backed it up on Sunday against Port Adelaide with arguably the best individual game ever seen in the AFLW: 6.0 from 31 disposals, 16 contested possessions, a whopping 14 score involvements, eight marks, seven inside 50s and 561m gained.

Garner took over the Kangaroos captaincy prior to the start of the season – a move that has only enhanced her output, according to Kurdas, but also helps “her teammates navigate the expectation” as the club seeks back-to-back flags.

“There’s a wave of new leadership, a new movement forward,” Kurdas said.

“Since they’ve come into the competition – because they were able to recruit so well – North were always on their way up the mountain. Now they’re at the summit and there’s a whole other mountain range to climb once you get up here, what else do you see?

“This shift in leadership to climb the next mountain range, which is: ‘How do we stay here? How do we bring young players through? How do we get young players to be of the Shinboner way and play football as we expect to the way we’ve always done it?’ That’s a really different mindset and mentality about ‘how to stay up there’, as opposed to ‘how do you climb’.

Jasmine Garner of the Kangaroos. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images Source: Getty Images

“I think Jas has got that humility that will certainly support young players coming through and role model the way of how to carry yourself when you are successful.”

While adding ‘premiership captain’ would be a brilliant addition to an already stacked resume, so too would AFLW best and fairest medal – an award that has eluded Garner, who’s constantly been overlooked by the umpires casting votes.

But Kurdas insisted missing out on that award wouldn’t be a significant motivating factor for Garner.

“I don’t think that’s how Jas’s psyche and ego operates,” Kurdas said. “She’s one of the most humble people that you can meet in football that is just so naturally gifted.

“It’s a real natural humility that she has that I think, funnily enough, gives her the ability to just ride the pressure wave really well. That’s part of her weaponry and her arsenal.

“I don’t think Jas ever cares about winning anything individually. She genuinely is someone who just wants to play her role for the team.

“Probably where she does feel the pressure is everyone else’s expectation of the umpires. It almost has come to a point now where poor Jas has to kind of calm everyone else down and make everyone else feel good that she hasn’t won it yet. We’re all more outraged than she is.

“When she doesn’t poll well or she doesn’t get the rub of the umpires’ votes as everyone else expects her to, I think she spends a lot of energy and time having to go: ‘It’s OK, I don’t care, it’s fine.’

“I think she’s really hungry for team success and I think that’s how she rolls. But if she does win it, I think she’d just be more happy for her mates that they’re happy that she’s finally won it, not because she’s won it for herself.”

Molloy equals AFLW record in Swans win | 00:43

RECORDS GALORE … BUT AT WHAT COST?

Garner’s powerful performance was one of several record-breaking performances across Round 2.

In the same game – which saw North Melbourne produce its highest ever AFLW score against Port Adelaide – prolific midfielder Ash Riddell recorded a whopping 43 disposals, equalling the record set by Brisbane star Ally Anderson last season.

On the Gold Coast, returning Sydney superstar Chloe Molloy dined out on the Suns and equalled ex-Bulldog Brooke Lochland’s record of seven goals in a game. Coincidentally, Lochland watched Molloy’s performance from the coaches’ box as she’s an assistant with the Swans this year. And of course the group Lochland looks after is the forward line.

Molloy kicked seven of Sydney’s 15 goals in its 82-point victory over the Suns – the third-biggest winning margin in AFLW history.

The Swans were also one of two teams to kick over 100 points on the weekend, with the sharpshooting Brisbane Lions amassing 17.3 (105). Only three AFLW teams – Melbourne, Adelaide and Geelong – had previously cracked triple figures in nine seasons. On Saturday, we had two clubs reach the mark in the space of four hours.

The records were gobsmacking and, for many, entertaining to watch. But they also came in dominant wins.

So was it purely a case of teams and players being more skilled and conditioned to pull off such feats? Or does it expose a growing chasm between the competition’s best and worst players?

Lions smash Dockers by whopping 70 pts! | 00:25

“It’s probably a bit of all of that,” Kurdas said.

“There’s also the impact of injuries and if you’re not in that sort of top-four calibre of team, injuries certainly do impact you because you mightn’t have the depth to cover it.

“Already a number of teams are going really deep with injuries at the moment. If you’re a Port Adelaide, who finished in the prelim final last year, with a super long injury list, the bottom-end of their talent is still young, still underdeveloped, still growing – they can’t cover injuries like a Melbourne or a Brisbane can cover.

“I do think potentially with the new interpretation of the rule and the ball just being thrown out, teams that are a little stronger and a bit more skilful, even with the hot calls of holding the ball from the umpire, may be able to execute a bit better.

“Also, once you get up there and you’ve got a system that works and you’ve got the conditioning in your team, the skill, the list to support the system … if you keep applying yourself and you keep doing the work, it’s probably a little bit easier to stay there, rather than climb the mountain.”

CALLS FOR ‘CONSISTENCY WITHIN GAME’ AMID RULE TWEAK

Two weeks in and the entire AFLW industry is still adjusting to the new holding the ball interpretation.

The AFL in June announced there would be a stricter interpretation of the holding the ball rule regarding ‘genuine attempt’, while players who either dived on or dragged the ball in would be scrutinised more harshly. The intention behind the move is to keep the ball in motion, with a view it’d lead to more scoring.

But the game-to-game consistency, for some, appears somewhat out of whack.

After an average of 16 holding the ball free kicks in Round 1 games, there was a slight increase to 17 in Round 2.

In Sunday’s clash between the Western Bulldogs and Richmond, 63 free kicks were paid for the entire match — and a whopping 26 were holding the ball calls, although appropriate prior opportunity seemed to be given for most cases. Tigers coach Ryan Ferguson post-game insisted “umpires weren’t a factor” in the match and that his ill-disciplined side “gave away too many free kicks”.

Hours later, only 20 free kicks were paid in the Adelaide-Geelong clash, with only seven holding the ball calls.

Pies claim first AFLW win in 331 days | 00:40

The games were different in nature. There were 146 tackles in the Tigers-Dogs clash with 45 stoppage clearances, while there were just 102 tackles and 38 stoppage clearances in the Crows-Cats encounter.

The point of contention, for many, remains how hot umpires have been on prior opportunity.

After Hawthorn’s win over Carlton on Saturday night — in which 23 holding the ball free kicks were paid — coach Daniel Webster said some of the decisions “were way too hot”, adding: “The tackler is now getting rewarded. I really don’t like that … We’re better off not trying to win the ball sometimes now, just tap it on, and I don’t think that’s the way the game should be played.”

Kurdas, who called the Suns-Swans (16 holding the ball free kicks) and Bombers-Eagles (12) games for Fox Footy on the weekend, said she’d noticed “an adjustment” between Rounds 1 and 2, but added more needed to be done.

“Within the Essendon-West Coast game – it was a very contested game and Windy Hill is quite a narrow field, there was a lot of contested ball work, lots of tackling, lots of inside work – and at times it felt super hot and at times it felt they’d let them try and push out of the congestion. For me, it didn’t feel consistent within the game – and I don’t feel it’s consistent between games that I’m watching at the moment,” Kurdas said.

“My view is that I don’t know if the umpires are able to get to a level of consistency so early in the season.

“We’re all so conditioned for what prior opportunity feels like. It’s a bit like we never have to count the steps that someone runs when you’re measuring 15m for a bounce, but we all know what that feels like … and it’s the same with prior opportunity, I think.

“Having to reprogram the umpires’ brains and how they read the game, I think that’s just really hard to do in such a short amount of time. So I’m not surprised there’s a level of inconsistency and I think there are different interpretations of what prior opportunity looks and feels like as well.

“I’m in support of keeping the ball in play and I do feel like there are less stoppages, but it doesn’t feel like they’ve made the game a better spectacle as a result. The game to me looks less skilful, the ball looks less in control and teams and players look frightened at times to go near the ball for fear of giving away a free kick.”

Demons flex muscles in 74-point win | 00:21

AND A WORD ON THE DEES …

Melbourne last season missed out on finals for the first time in its history. And many pundits pre-season expected the team to miss again in 2025.

But two rounds in and the Demons are 2-0 on top of the ladder after big wins over the Western Bulldogs and Richmond.

While Melbourne would’ve been favourites to beat both of those two teams, the fact they’ve produced such emphatic wins amid personnel changes has impressed Kurdas.

“Melbourne’s performances with their injury list is quite something,” she said. “I really thought Melbourne wouldn’t be this strong this early with the injuries that they’ve got.

“That’s really exciting that missing finals last year has had a real impact on them and they’ve adjusted really well with the injuries they’ve got.

“With the calibre of players and where they are in terms of their conditioning and the like, they’re able to cover it.”

The Demons, however, are already reaching deep into their list, with star midfielder Olivia Purcell rupturing her ACL against St Kilda in a season-ending blow, while Blaithin Mackin (MCL) and Sarah Lampard (calf) are also set for extended sideline stints. They all join the likes of Gab Colvin (knee), Denby Taylor (foot), Tahlia Gillard (knee) and Grace Beasley (knee) on the Dees’ injury list.

Click here to read article