If you’re of a certain age in Australia, you probably grew up hearing words slung about footy ovals – homophobic slurs included – that just seemed like the background noise of Saturday afternoons. They were as much a part of our vocabulary as “How’s the pie, mate?” But times change, and none more so than right now in the AFL.
Last week, Izak Rankine of the Adelaide Crows was suspended for four matches after being caught using a homophobic slur against a Collingwood player. Rankine admitted to the use and apologised personally, but the AFL ruled: “Homophobia has no place in football.” A four-match ban, further education and plenty of headlines ensued. He’s just the latest: six AFL players have copped suspensions for the same offence in only 16 months, – and the list will keep growing.
“Adelaide and Rankine know it’s not acceptable. In an AFL environment, this behaviour is not acceptable,” said Stephen Meade, AFL General Counsel. Club coach Matthew Nicks put it plainly: “He’s not the victim.” The league’s line is clear: you say the word; you pay the price.” If you’d told my 20-year-old self this would ever happen, I’d have spilled my VB in disbelief. But all things change – mostly, for the better.
Contrast all this, now, to the AFL’s other headline: Snoop Dogg, 53, as half-time entertainment for the Grand Final. That’s right – the American rapper, famed for his smooth beats, cheeky grin … and lyrics that, well, make Izak Rankine look like a choirboy. Snoop’s rhymes celebrate (among many things) marijuana, violence, misogyny, and language so strong they need bleeping for daytime radio. Songs like Gin and Juice, Drop It Like It’s Hot, and Who Am I? (What’s My Name?) sport lyrics that push social boundaries way beyond anything Rankine mumbled on the oval.
Take this Snoop classic:
“With so much drama in the L-B-C
It’s kinda hard bein’ Snoop D-O-double-G…”
And that’s just the printable bit. His music runs the full gamut of adult themes – drug use, sexual boasts, and language we’d surely not want repeated on the field or in family-friendly stands. Indeed, if Snoop dropped some of those lyrics at quarter-time wearing footy shorts, AFL Integrity would need more than four weeks to process the fallout. He’s no stranger to controversy off the mic either: past brushes with the law, a public love-affair with cannabis, and the kind of persona that’s pure outlaw charm.
So here’s the rub. The AFL publicly bans, vilifies and educates its own for using words that most blokes over 60 heard every day as teens – even as they celebrate an international artist whose lyrics would surely gobsmack those same footy fans, and whose notoriety for drug-taking is legendary. Is the AFL sending mixed messages? You don’t need a diploma in philosophy to spot the contradiction.
There’s no doubt we need to do better as a society – footy included – in stamping out hate, discrimination, and language that marginalises. The world isn’t what it was in 1975, and good for that. But the spectacle of Snoop getting paid millions to entertain the masses at half-time, spouting lyrics and stories that, in another context, would have seen him banned until the next Olympics, should make us pause.
Is it about the entertainment dollar? About global cachet? Is footy – like so many institutions in 2025 – just trying to stay relevant, edgy, and exciting for younger audiences, whatever the contradictions? Or is there a deeper hypocrisy at play? If the AFL’s job is to lead, inspire and model behaviour for millions of men, women and kids – how does it square the Rankine story with rolling out Snoop at the season’s biggest game?
Maybe it’s not about saying “no” to everything that makes us squirm – maybe it’s about honesty. About acknowledging that big public events are complicated, modern life is full of contradictions, and that football doesn’t exist in a vacuum. But for those of us sitting in the stands, watching the game we grew up with, it’s fair to expect a bit of consistency with the standards we impose. There are families in those seats. There are kids learning the ropes.
So here’s the final siren: if Snoop Dogg ever ran onto the field and spat out lines like he does on stage, he’d be warming the pine for longer than most. The AFL is showing admirable progress in some areas, but it might want to check the scoreboard for mixed messages off the field, too.
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