Mitch Brown says he reached out to Izak Rankine after homophobic slur ban, urges view beyond the incident

Mitch Brown, the AFL’s first openly bisexual player, said he contacted Adelaide forward Izak Rankine after Rankine received a four‑match suspension for using a homophobic slur, issued on the eve of the finals. Brown described the issue as larger than any single lapse and emphasized a need to address cultural and systemic factors within the sport.

Brown told The Imperfects podcast that he would never blame Rankine or point to an individual, insisting the problem runs deeper than one incident. “I don’t blame Izak Rankine,” he said. “I would never point out an individual, I would never do that, because it’s more than that, it’s bigger than that, it’s cultural, it’s systematic.” He said he reached out after watching Rankine’s public apology following his return from overseas, hoping to offer support rather than judgment. “The reason why I reached out is I watched him on screen apologising for what he did after he went away and came back from overseas, and I could feel the hurt and heaviness on him,” Brown said.