Jack Graham: Why West Coast Eagles midfielder’s ban was handed down hours before Port Adelaide Power clash

A series of high-level talks between West Coast and Greater Western Sydney are why Jack Graham’s four-match ban for a homophobic slur was handed down just hours before the Eagles’ clash with Port Adelaide. Graham has been slapped with the ban and will miss the Sunday afternoon match at Adelaide Oval for a single-word slur directed to a Giants opponent in last Friday night’s defeat. The Eagles recruit flew to Adelaide with the team on Friday and trained on Saturday morning, despite the prospect of a near-certain suspension looming over him. The game-day call has thrown the Eagles’ preparation into chaos. Young midfielder Tom Gross was pulled out of the club’s WAFL team that lost to West Perth on Saturday night to travel to Adelaide, which means they have 26 players in South Australia. Emergencies Jack Williams and Noah Long were already with the travelling party. Williams will play against the Power as a replacement for Graham in a move that is a significant shift of team balance, while Long is on standby for Liam Ryan, who The West Australian revealed on Saturday is battling soreness and did not train with the group. Graham first told club officials of the incident after the game at Optus Stadium last Friday night. It is then understood the Eagles waited to see if he had been cited by the match review officer in the days after the game, before discussions were held between senior figures at the Eagles and GWS. The decision was made late in the week after the two clubs opted to make the AFL’s integrity unit aware of the incident and Graham’s self-reporting, before it was officially referred to the league on Friday. The AFL has confirmed the Eagles were not obligated to report the incident to its integrity unit because there was not an official complaint made. Graham flew to Adelaide early on Friday afternoon with teammates as the AFL began its investigation, which continued across the weekend and was wrapped up in around 48 hours. Given the Richmond premiership player’s admission of guilt, it was certain he would be banned. It is understood the single-word slur was similar to the one that landed Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson a three-match ban last season, while Gold Coast’s Wil Powell was handed a five-match ban and St Kilda’s Lance Collard a six-match suspension as part of a crackdown on homophobic language. Graham’s early reporting, remorse and the fact it is the first known homophobic incident this season were all mitigating factors in the length of the ban. The 146-gamer apologised to the player and also rang AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon to apologise. “I am very remorseful for the word I used and know such language has no place in our community or our game,” said Graham, who is in West Coast’s six-man leadership group, said in a statement released by the club. “I have offered my unreserved apology to the Giants player and Greater Western Sydney and would also like to publicly apologise for my comment. “What I said does not reflect my values or our club values. I made a mistake and need to be better and will prove that through my actions going forward.”