Disorderly conduct by football stars and spectators marrs Australian city during distasteful incidents at AFL game
In a shocking turn of events during Thursday night's AFL qualifying final at Adelaide Oval, Collingwood star Isaac Quaynor was met with boos from the home crowd. The booing was a response to a homophobic slur Quaynor had been subjected to by Adelaide's Izak Rankine in their previous game on August 16.
Rankine, the sixth AFL-listed player banned for an on-field homophobic slur since April last year, has now served two matches of his four-game ban. His potential availability wasn't a talking point at the club on Thursday night.
Fox Sports commentator Sarah Jones reacted to the incident, stating, "I don't think we need to do that. As a footy code, we're better than that." Channel Seven commentator Brian Taylor also criticized the booing, saying, "I cannot believe this is happening. He [Quaynor] has done nothing wrong."
Triple M's Kate McCarthy expressed her disbelief, saying, "Booing someone for calling out homophobia is truly something, isn't it?" Meanwhile, Eddie McGuire, a Channel Nine star and former Collingwood boss, blasted Crows fans over the awful display, calling it a "special level of ass-hattery."
Collingwood coach Craig McRae labeled the booing as "really disappointing". Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks refused to condemn the crowd behavior after the loss. However, some fans' responses to the booing included "a special level of ass-hattery", "absolute clowns", and "grubby".
Notably, it was revealed that Nick Daicos, an AFL player who made a homophobic remark against Isaac Quaynor in August 2022, was the one who was booed during the qualifying final. Collingwood's Dan Houston was also jeered by the pro-Crows crowd, reportedly for sledging Rankine during the August encounter.
The Magpies won the clash at Adelaide Oval, but the biggest talking point after the game was the awful display from Crows supporters. The booing of Isaac Quaynor is being criticized as a disturbing and unacceptable behaviour, and calls for stricter measures to address such incidents are growing louder.
