St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says Lance Collard needs support not judgment after homophobic slurs

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon say it’s important to “challenge the behaviour” of young gun Lance Collard but he would also be well supported in the wake of his six-match suspension for using homophobic slurs.

Collard, 19, was back training with teammates at Moorabbin on Thursday morning after the massive ban was handed down by the AFL after the West Australian was found guilty of directing “unprompted and highly offensive homophobic slurs” towards two Williamstown opponents in a VFL game.

His suspension came just two weeks after St Kilda’s annual Pride Game against Sydney, an initiative the club has been involved in since 2017.

Collard expressed his remorse and Lyon said he’d lean on his “strong relationship” with the youngster, in his first year at the Saints, and he wouldn’t be judging him for his behaviour,

“Always support (the player) and challenge the behaviour,” Lyon said before Thursday’s training session.

“I’ve got a strong relationship with Lance. What’s done is done, he’s acknowledged that.

“The powers that be have done their thing … but we certainly take the feedback.

“We want to be an inclusive, welcoming environment and we’ll just keep improving.

“I can just talk about a young Indigenous player out of Perth, a vernacular, I think you’ve got to look to intent and maliciousness.

“You know, how do you judge that?”

Collard ‘s suspension was the third for an AFL player this season for homophobic slurs and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon on Wednesday denied the league had a problem with homophobia.

“No, I don’t think we do. But I think language of the type that has been used is not acceptable in any forum, let alone the footy field,” he said.

Dillon said the next infringement would face an even stronger penalty.

“I think we’ve just got to continue to educate our players until we stamp it out,” he said.

“It hadn’t been an issue for us for a long time and we’ll continue to educate and make sure that we can remove it from our game.”

But the AFLPA said suspensions were “not working” and another approach was needed.

“We have repeatedly called for greater transparency and consistency in relation to how the AFL sanctions players and have expressed our concerns that this work has not further progressed,” AFLPA acting chief Regan Bunny said.

“With multiple instances of homophobia occurring this season, the industry must work to consider the drivers of this behaviour and prioritise delivery of player education to raise awareness and understanding of homophobia and its impacts.”