Adelaide star Chelsea Randall admits the past week has been challenging for her and her AFLW teammates following fellow Crow Izak Rankine’s homophobic slur at a Collingwood opponent.
Randall accepted the AFL’s handling of the case, while expressing her own frustration and disappointment with Rankine, who was handed a four-game suspension for calling a rival a f----t.
Adelaide AFLW veteran Chelsea Randall takes a strong grab on Sunday against Geelong.Credit: Getty Images
Rankine jetted off for Europe at the weekend after being granted an extended leave of absence from the club.
He will continue his training at a European facility to be prepared for a possible but unlikely return in the grand final.
“It’s been a challenging week,” Randall said after booting three goals in Adelaide’s come-from-behind 38-point win over Geelong at Unley.
“There’s obviously a bit of disappointment and frustration.
“He’s made a mistake, and he’s owning the result and the penalty.
“He’s suffered some consequences.
“We’re humans, we make mistakes.
“Now it’s about learning and educating.”
Randall is openly gay and married to former Adelaide teammate Marijana Rajcic.
Arguably the most respected figure within either the Crows’ AFL or AFLW programs, Randall sees Rankine’s mistake as an opportunity to drive positive change around language.
“Whether it’s gender-based comments, racism or homophophic slurs, we just want to make sure we’re continuing to keep growing as people and we keep educating one another,” she said.
“We have to learn and grow together and educate one another. That’s the opportunity that I see.
“I hope that creates conversation within households, with our young children as to why certain language is inappropriate to use and how we can make a really big change in society.
“How powerful is that? That sport has the power to do that – it’s pretty cool.”
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