August 21, 2025 • 9 mins
This week’s AFL headlines have been all about the Izak Rankine case.. bans, appeals, and endless legal back and forth. But beyond the footy chatter, the real issue is being overlooked: the impact of homophobic slurs.
Christian hands the mic to Rio, a lifelong AFL fan and gay man, who shares why the debate over “weeks vs. games” misses the point and how these words shape culture, silence players, and push fans away from the game they love.
A powerful, personal conversation about accountability, inclusion, and why actions matter more than punishments.
This episode discusses homophobic language and the impacts on the LGBTQ+ community. If this raises any issues for you, support is available. You can contact QLife on 1800 184 527 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
I Heeart podcasts. You can hear more Gold one I
four point three podcasts, playlist and listen live on the
free iHeart app.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Got anything good? Hey? This is the Christian O'Connell show podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Now. Over the last four days there's been a ongoing
mess legal bs involving Adelaide and the AFL and the
player as it ranking, And yesterday on the show, we
were talking about this when it looked like it was
going to be a five game ban, and then the
club worked starting to prepare statements and they were talking
about Snoop Dogg and all kinds of other things, giving
(00:48):
mitigating circumstances why that word was used. And I actually
feel like we owe you are an apology rear because
when I went home, I felt really bad because there
are too many voices like mine, all the media commentators
weighing in on this, and I can't speak for the
a community. It's actually I want to hear your voices
because you know four well the power of that word
(01:10):
and those slurs and why there are bands in place
for behavior like that. I actually felt like on the
show yesterday we let you down. I want to know
what you're taking is. It's not like, whenever there's going
to be a gay story, we need to go to
our chief gay correspondent, chief of Gay's Rio. But I
actually think it's really important. Actually the most important voices
in order of this are those in the gay community
(01:31):
to tell us really how they feel, not how Eddie
McGuire feels, or even me for that matter. So Rio,
if you're happy to, i'd really know what do you
think about this? But now the band is down to
four games?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, mate, thank you. It's been a I would say
it's been an upsetting week. Like it's just on a
just personal level. I've loved footy my whole life. I've
followed the Swan's my whole life. I've played footy my
whole life. It's just upsetting for a whole week to
be reminded that there are elements of the game that
(02:01):
maybe don't accept you or that don't make you feel welcome.
And for I still have a very you know, that
wide eyed view of footy like I did when I
was a kid, Like I just love it on such
a really deep, you know, almost childlike level. And to
be sort of dragged back to reality for a whole
week with this kind of stuff has been pretty upsetting,
(02:22):
to be honest. But the most frustrating thing about it
isn't the four weeks or the five weeks or the
you know, getting hung up on you know, should we
wait finals games differently to a regular game for this
kind of stuff, because I think the whole conversation has
missed a very important element of it. And it's not
(02:43):
the football impact, the impact on Grand Final Day or
the Adelaide Crows or rankin that's all anyone's spoken about
for the whole week. I think there's a human impact
that people just hasn't been talked about for seven days.
And the reality is there are gay players in the AFL.
Clubs are on record about that. There's a four Call,
(03:04):
four corners sort of documentary on it that came out
last year, The Gay Yeah, it was brilliant. There are
gay players in the AFL that do not feel comfortable
to come out and to be their true selves in
the place that they work, playing the game that they love.
And it's because of things like this. This has happened
five times this year where these slurs have happened, and
(03:27):
people wonder why don't people feel comfortable coming out? It's
because of things like this. If there were you know,
if you told me five people in our workplace had
used that word at work, I would not feel comfortable
being in a meeting room with them. I wouldn't feel comfortable,
you know.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Having they wouldn't employed, they fired, should.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Be exactly, and my heart made That was just where
my heart went to this whole week. Those players there
that have to be sort of living a lie essentially
and every day putting on a mask, trying to hide
who they are, living in fear, probably because it's just
such a hostile environment for them to step into, and
(04:08):
for me personally, especially as someone who is really lucky.
I mean, it shouldn't be lucky, but it is that
I come to work every day and I can be
my full self and I don't have to hide any
part of it. And actually, the the monday after my
first ever date with a guy, I told you guys
about you were the first people I told It was
(04:29):
the in between time waster, in between the long ad break.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Aria just came out in the studio off air, and
I was like, Wow, this is amazing. I wish i'd
known advance. I would have dressed up. I don't know
you it's just an invite. So I've never been to
a coming out party and it just happening in the
middle of a radio show. But I felt very honored.
I was like, but this is how it should be,
you know. I felt proud and actually of the work
environment that we are all parts of, where everybody's welcome
(04:54):
and all voices are welcome. You should be hiding away
any part of who you are. It's not like it's
a choice or it's anything like that. It's like, this
is who you are. Yeah, there was an amazing moment
for you to come out like that, really in the
mid of the middle of a show. But yeah, I
just felt yes, and I do an apology rio is
because I just thought, you know, we could talk about
it from our point of view, but our point of
view is irrelevant. You know, I don't speak for the
(05:15):
gay community. You know what that's like. And I can
imagine how this is incredibly hurtful. You're right, not that
maybe the reduction from five to four just embarrassment of
the AFL saying it's five games. There's precedent here, then
a club going can we have three? And then what
negotiating over this? And then I know, there's these medical
statements that we're not going to see because obviously they're confidential.
But surely there can't be any mitigating circumstances for using
(05:40):
a word like that. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, look, I don't know enough probably about Isaac's personal
situation to comment, but I find it, you know, very
difficult to certainly think of a situation where we would
make it acceptable. To be honest, I'm not particularly hung
up on the going down from five to four. I
(06:03):
know the precedents there and all that kind of thing.
It's the impact, Yeah, it's the impact. I think, Oh,
just prefer people to you know, this has happened. Can
we have a conversation about the actual culture of the
AFL and what are we going to do to actually
improve it beyond worrying about weeks and punishments and stuff
like that. I would love I would much rather Isaac
(06:25):
have two weeks and go out to a gay outreach
program and you know, talk to the homeless gay kids
that have been kicked out by their families and he
wouldn't use that word again or go talk you know,
every single club has a gay element of their like
a gay cheer squad. Go and hang out with the
you know, the guys and girls who you know bleed
(06:48):
for your club and who live for you and your club.
Go have a chat with them for a week. Go
hang out with them, and I promise you they won't
use that word again. And I'd just love to see
action and actually going out of your way to you know,
involve yourself in these communities that really look up to
you and and that are a big part of the
football world get chunned a lot. I would love to
(07:11):
see that sort of action and that sort of conversation
happen so that you know, the sixteen year old kid
running around, you know that might think they're gay or
is gay and is watching this and isn't thinking, Okay,
do I have to choose between chasing my dream and
living a lion and hiding my true self? Like to me,
(07:31):
that's that's much more important to me than the weeks
or the Grand Final or the waiting or any of that. Yeah,
that's what I'd really love to see come from this.
And to be honest, unfortunately I haven't really seen much
of that.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Beautifully said rio you you're talking about that it's just
not a safe space for people, is it, you know,
and you look at like the AFLW that does appear
to be the opposite, a very very safe space where
I can't speak for it, but I'm sure you wouldn't
hear words like that, you know, And then they wonder
and scratch the hands away. Right while there are no
openly gay payers. You see this week, an entire week,
(08:06):
an entire week, this has been in the headlines. It's
a terrible decision by a terribly run organization. At times
it is rio. Thank you so much for giving us
the real perspective what we need to hear this week.
And you're right, there's a lot of mums and dads
and kids listening to the show this week. You know,
what would you be saying to them, because you know,
right now you've got this opportunity. There are going to
(08:27):
be people listening right now who are struggling with their
identity and how they feel about and they would have
seen this week and this huge kind of everyone on
TV going, oh, it should just be one round or
two rounds as Wokenes's gone mad. What do you say
to that? If someone's listening, maybe like when you were
like fourteen or fifteen, and you've got these really big,
what feel like big secrets. What would you say to someone.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I think this is exactly the reason why we need
to have Pride rounds, Why we need to you know,
have people I see people in comments getting pissed off
because there are rainbow flags in the Swan's cheer section.
They keep politics out of sport, blah blah blah. Well
people are still saying these horrible words professional players five
times this year. The fact that we're having this conversation,
(09:10):
the fact that we're even talking about Isaac Rankin, is
the reason we need to be having these rounds and
be talking about these things. And I would have, you know,
to any you know, gay players or kids out there,
as much as probably a harrowing week this has been,
I have you know, I've found a huge sense of
(09:31):
community and identity and belonging within football and within my
football club and within the Swans and all that kind
of thing. So I would I still think it's the
greatest game in the world and I love it so
so much, So I would say, you know, it will
get better, and you know, the more of us that
are able to feel confident enough to sort of step
out into ourselves. The you know, the easier it's going
(09:53):
to be for everyone. So yeah, don't don't give up
on the AFL as well.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Thanks Reren beautifully said okay, we'll take a break back
in a moment. Thanks mate. Christian O'Connell show go On
podcast
I Heeart podcasts. You can hear more Gold one I
four point three podcasts, playlist and listen live on the
free iHeart app.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Got anything good? Hey? This is the Christian O'Connell show podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Now. Over the last four days there's been a ongoing
mess legal bs involving Adelaide and the AFL and the
player as it ranking, And yesterday on the show, we
were talking about this when it looked like it was
going to be a five game ban, and then the
club worked starting to prepare statements and they were talking
about Snoop Dogg and all kinds of other things, giving
(00:48):
mitigating circumstances why that word was used. And I actually
feel like we owe you are an apology rear because
when I went home, I felt really bad because there
are too many voices like mine, all the media commentators
weighing in on this, and I can't speak for the
a community. It's actually I want to hear your voices
because you know four well the power of that word
(01:10):
and those slurs and why there are bands in place
for behavior like that. I actually felt like on the
show yesterday we let you down. I want to know
what you're taking is. It's not like, whenever there's going
to be a gay story, we need to go to
our chief gay correspondent, chief of Gay's Rio. But I
actually think it's really important. Actually the most important voices
in order of this are those in the gay community
(01:31):
to tell us really how they feel, not how Eddie
McGuire feels, or even me for that matter. So Rio,
if you're happy to, i'd really know what do you
think about this? But now the band is down to
four games?
Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, mate, thank you. It's been a I would say
it's been an upsetting week. Like it's just on a
just personal level. I've loved footy my whole life. I've
followed the Swan's my whole life. I've played footy my
whole life. It's just upsetting for a whole week to
be reminded that there are elements of the game that
(02:01):
maybe don't accept you or that don't make you feel welcome.
And for I still have a very you know, that
wide eyed view of footy like I did when I
was a kid, Like I just love it on such
a really deep, you know, almost childlike level. And to
be sort of dragged back to reality for a whole
week with this kind of stuff has been pretty upsetting,
(02:22):
to be honest. But the most frustrating thing about it
isn't the four weeks or the five weeks or the
you know, getting hung up on you know, should we
wait finals games differently to a regular game for this
kind of stuff, because I think the whole conversation has
missed a very important element of it. And it's not
(02:43):
the football impact, the impact on Grand Final Day or
the Adelaide Crows or rankin that's all anyone's spoken about
for the whole week. I think there's a human impact
that people just hasn't been talked about for seven days.
And the reality is there are gay players in the AFL.
Clubs are on record about that. There's a four Call,
(03:04):
four corners sort of documentary on it that came out
last year, The Gay Yeah, it was brilliant. There are
gay players in the AFL that do not feel comfortable
to come out and to be their true selves in
the place that they work, playing the game that they love.
And it's because of things like this. This has happened
five times this year where these slurs have happened, and
(03:27):
people wonder why don't people feel comfortable coming out? It's
because of things like this. If there were you know,
if you told me five people in our workplace had
used that word at work, I would not feel comfortable
being in a meeting room with them. I wouldn't feel comfortable,
you know.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Having they wouldn't employed, they fired, should.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Be exactly, and my heart made That was just where
my heart went to this whole week. Those players there
that have to be sort of living a lie essentially
and every day putting on a mask, trying to hide
who they are, living in fear, probably because it's just
such a hostile environment for them to step into, and
(04:08):
for me personally, especially as someone who is really lucky.
I mean, it shouldn't be lucky, but it is that
I come to work every day and I can be
my full self and I don't have to hide any
part of it. And actually, the the monday after my
first ever date with a guy, I told you guys
about you were the first people I told It was
(04:29):
the in between time waster, in between the long ad break.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Aria just came out in the studio off air, and
I was like, Wow, this is amazing. I wish i'd
known advance. I would have dressed up. I don't know
you it's just an invite. So I've never been to
a coming out party and it just happening in the
middle of a radio show. But I felt very honored.
I was like, but this is how it should be,
you know. I felt proud and actually of the work
environment that we are all parts of, where everybody's welcome
(04:54):
and all voices are welcome. You should be hiding away
any part of who you are. It's not like it's
a choice or it's anything like that. It's like, this
is who you are. Yeah, there was an amazing moment
for you to come out like that, really in the
mid of the middle of a show. But yeah, I
just felt yes, and I do an apology rio is
because I just thought, you know, we could talk about
it from our point of view, but our point of
view is irrelevant. You know, I don't speak for the
(05:15):
gay community. You know what that's like. And I can
imagine how this is incredibly hurtful. You're right, not that
maybe the reduction from five to four just embarrassment of
the AFL saying it's five games. There's precedent here, then
a club going can we have three? And then what
negotiating over this? And then I know, there's these medical
statements that we're not going to see because obviously they're confidential.
But surely there can't be any mitigating circumstances for using
(05:40):
a word like that. What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Yeah, look, I don't know enough probably about Isaac's personal
situation to comment, but I find it, you know, very
difficult to certainly think of a situation where we would
make it acceptable. To be honest, I'm not particularly hung
up on the going down from five to four. I
(06:03):
know the precedents there and all that kind of thing.
It's the impact, Yeah, it's the impact. I think, Oh,
just prefer people to you know, this has happened. Can
we have a conversation about the actual culture of the
AFL and what are we going to do to actually
improve it beyond worrying about weeks and punishments and stuff
like that. I would love I would much rather Isaac
(06:25):
have two weeks and go out to a gay outreach
program and you know, talk to the homeless gay kids
that have been kicked out by their families and he
wouldn't use that word again or go talk you know,
every single club has a gay element of their like
a gay cheer squad. Go and hang out with the
you know, the guys and girls who you know bleed
(06:48):
for your club and who live for you and your club.
Go have a chat with them for a week. Go
hang out with them, and I promise you they won't
use that word again. And I'd just love to see
action and actually going out of your way to you know,
involve yourself in these communities that really look up to
you and and that are a big part of the
football world get chunned a lot. I would love to
(07:11):
see that sort of action and that sort of conversation
happen so that you know, the sixteen year old kid
running around, you know that might think they're gay or
is gay and is watching this and isn't thinking, Okay,
do I have to choose between chasing my dream and
living a lion and hiding my true self? Like to me,
(07:31):
that's that's much more important to me than the weeks
or the Grand Final or the waiting or any of that. Yeah,
that's what I'd really love to see come from this.
And to be honest, unfortunately I haven't really seen much
of that.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Beautifully said rio you you're talking about that it's just
not a safe space for people, is it, you know,
and you look at like the AFLW that does appear
to be the opposite, a very very safe space where
I can't speak for it, but I'm sure you wouldn't
hear words like that, you know, And then they wonder
and scratch the hands away. Right while there are no
openly gay payers. You see this week, an entire week,
(08:06):
an entire week, this has been in the headlines. It's
a terrible decision by a terribly run organization. At times
it is rio. Thank you so much for giving us
the real perspective what we need to hear this week.
And you're right, there's a lot of mums and dads
and kids listening to the show this week. You know,
what would you be saying to them, because you know,
right now you've got this opportunity. There are going to
(08:27):
be people listening right now who are struggling with their
identity and how they feel about and they would have
seen this week and this huge kind of everyone on
TV going, oh, it should just be one round or
two rounds as Wokenes's gone mad. What do you say
to that? If someone's listening, maybe like when you were
like fourteen or fifteen, and you've got these really big,
what feel like big secrets. What would you say to someone.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
I think this is exactly the reason why we need
to have Pride rounds, Why we need to you know,
have people I see people in comments getting pissed off
because there are rainbow flags in the Swan's cheer section.
They keep politics out of sport, blah blah blah. Well
people are still saying these horrible words professional players five
times this year. The fact that we're having this conversation,
(09:10):
the fact that we're even talking about Isaac Rankin, is
the reason we need to be having these rounds and
be talking about these things. And I would have, you know,
to any you know, gay players or kids out there,
as much as probably a harrowing week this has been,
I have you know, I've found a huge sense of
(09:31):
community and identity and belonging within football and within my
football club and within the Swans and all that kind
of thing. So I would I still think it's the
greatest game in the world and I love it so
so much, So I would say, you know, it will
get better, and you know, the more of us that
are able to feel confident enough to sort of step
out into ourselves. The you know, the easier it's going
(09:53):
to be for everyone. So yeah, don't don't give up
on the AFL as well.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Thanks Reren beautifully said okay, we'll take a break back
in a moment. Thanks mate. Christian O'Connell show go On
podcast
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