Adelaide contacts the AFL's integrity unit regarding racist comments directed at Izak Rankine.
Rankine, 22, posted a screenshot of the message on his Instagram account, showing he’d received the comments during the Crows' win against the Dockers.
“Pretty disappointing to STILL have to deal with this. When will it end,” Rankine wrote on his Instagram.
Adelaide CEO Tim Silvers labelled the “deliberate” attack on Rankine as “totally unacceptable and disgraceful” and said the club would support the player and his family.
Adelaide boom recruit Izak Rankine has backed himself to thrive under the spotlight and deliver on the big expectations that accompany his blockbuster trade.
"The expectation coming down here, a lot of media, a lot of fans have a lot of expectations, so I think that's just going to drive me to play even better and be better as a person and as a footballer," he said.
Izak Rankine joins the Crows following a trade between Adelaide and Gold Coast.
The Crows landed Rankine, pick No.46 and a future fourth-round selection (tied to Fremantle) in exchange for pick No.5, a future third and future fourth.
"We are thrilled to have Izak join our club and are excited about what he will bring to our team," Crows general manager list management and strategy Justin Reid said.
"Izak is a highly talented footballer with great foot speed, is dangerous around goal and has tremendous game sense."
After four years with the Suns, Izak Rankine informs Gold Coast of his desire to continue his career in South Australia with the Crows.
The 22-year-old has had a breakout 2022 season, kicking 29 goals and assisting 18 others from 18 matches.
Adelaide's offer to Rankine, which exceeded the Suns' by a significant margin, was too good for the young forward to pass up. With a host of promising young players on their list, the Suns were unable to match the Crows' lucrative offer due to the salary cap.
"To lose a player that talented after four years is incredibly disappointing for the club. To finally see the benefit of all that hard work and get him to request a trade back to Adelaide is disappointing," Gold Coast football manager Wayne Campbell said.
Following reports of a highly lucrative offer to Izak Rankine from the Crows, Gold Coast is leaving no stone unturned in its effort to the young forward, with the club's leadership group pitching its case him.
"He's a special person, special player. We've gone to him and had a few chats about how much he means to us and means to the club," Gold Coast co-captain Touk Miller said.
"As a leadership group, that's part of what you have to do. This club wants success, and he can be a key part of that."
Izak Rankine says a simple change in mindset has helped him rediscover the form that had pundits so excited early in his career.
"I'm just getting back to my roots, not worrying about anything else. I'm not worrying about my game, anyone else's game, what other people are saying, just going out there and having fun," Rankine said.
Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew has no concerns Izak Rankine will reclaim the dazzling form that captivated the AFL world in 2020, saying another pre-season will do the young South Australian wonders.
Rankine came back to earth with a thud last season, kicking 16 goals from 18 games before being dropped ahead of round 20, not to return to the senior team for the remainder of the season.
"He's the number one (small) forward they put their number one defender on," Dew said.
"Another pre-season will be good for him in terms of building that resilience, adding a couple of things in his toolkit."
Suns coach Stuart Dew defends Izak Rankine who has been performing below expectations.
Rankine has kicked nine goals in 10 matches thus far in 2021 and is averaging 12.4 disposals, without producing anywhere near as many highlights-reel moments as in his debut season in 2020.
"He makes mistakes and they get highlighted a lot more than others. We've just got to judge him over a slice as a younger player," Dew said.
Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew plans to push Izak Rankine into the Suns' midfield in 2021.
"Although at the time a lot of people thought we were drafting an exciting forward pocket, we thought we were drafting a very, very good footballer that could play in the midfield and go forward," Dew said.
"We also think he can be a lot more consistent than perhaps what people think, and less of the highlight reel and more consistently influencing passages of play. He'll definitely push up into the midfield at different times because he seems to create things when he's around the ball."
Izak Rankine kicks a remarkable goal from a soccer off the ground while off-balance and surrounded by several Sydney players.
"It's something he practices. For any kids out there watching, he doesn't fluke that. He practices those things," Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew said about the goal.
"He just looks like he's enjoying his football and so he should, because he's missed a lot and that's the thing he loves. It's exciting for us to see."
Izak Rankine is the 2020 AFL Rising Star nominee for round 6 after kicking 3 goals from 12 disposals in his debut game for the Suns against Melbourne.
"As soon as I got out there and having those warm-up kicks and seeing the stadium, I knew this was the place I was meant to be. As soon as I saw that and stepped across that white line all those nerves turned into excitement," Rankine said.
"I obviously didn't expect to kick a few goals like that and play that well but just leading into the game my main focus was to play my role for the team."
Rankine had to bide his time over a span of 20 months as he battled with injuries and setbacks before his eventual debut.
"Doubts started to creep in when I hurt myself at the start of this year. The support around me within my family and the club and all the boys and Tristan Coulter, the psychologist at the club, I had a great support base and that was the main thing," he said.
"Whenever I did get down I'd make sure I'd reach out and talk to someone and make sure I wasn't there by myself letting those four walls close in on me."
Izak Rankine makes his AFL debut for Gold Coast with 12 disposals (8 kicks and 4 handballs), a mark, 3 tackles and 3 goals in a 17-point loss to Melbourne.
Saturday, 11 April 2020
Izak Rankine says moving in with Gold Coast dietician Ben Parker has done wonders for his health and fitness.
"It's all about knowing what to eat before or after training and on high or low (intensity) days. He's (Parker) taught me pretty much everything," Rankine said.
"When I started eating what's really good for me, my body has started feeling a lot better, so have my joints and it's had a better impact on my lifestyle which was the best benefit."
It's been a long and frustrating wait for Rankine who has yet to make his debut due to injuries and, more recently, the suspension of the 2020 AFL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I'll be just able to breathe a little bit when I get that first game," he said.
"Obviously, it's not everything, I want to make sure I set myself up for the rest of my career, that'd be just a big weight off my shoulders."
Izak Rankine will play just his second NEAFL game of the season this week after overcoming a hip injury when the Suns take on the Swans at Sydney's Tramway Oval.
"He has demonstrated an impressive level of diligence throughout his first year at the club and while it has been frustrating at times, we have no doubt the experience is going to hold him in great stead going into 2020 and beyond," Gold Coast football manager Jon Haines said about Rankine.
Izak Rankine is finally ready to return to action this week via the NEAFL from hamstring issues that have plagued his year.
"We can't wait to have him back," Gold Coast co-captain David Swallow said.
"We only had a small snippet of it (his ability) but we know he's got a lot of attributes and can't wait to have him out there and see what he can do."
Izak Rankine believes being of indigenous origin led to suggestions he would be a 'flight risk' at last year's draft.
"Coming from an indigenous background there can be a label on you that you want to stay home with your mob and with your family. But for me personally, my family told me to go and do whatever," Rankine said.
"If I ended up at Gold Coast, or Melbourne or in Western Australia, that was all right, I just want to pursue my dream and put the name out there."
Rankine has played minimal football thus far in 2019 due to hamstring issues but says he has settled into the Suns seamlessly.
"I haven't been homesick so far and I don't think I will be. I love it up here so much. I miss my family, but I'd rather they move up here than me go back if anything," he said.
"It's a bit better up here, it's more laid back, you don't get hassled and it's a good place for football to thrive and become really big on the coast. I'm happy to help do that and get around to communities."
Izak Rankine suffers a major setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury and could miss another six weeks.
The No.3 draft pick was due to play his first game for Gold Coast's NEAFL team this weekend but has aggravated the injury he picked up in the JLT Series in March.
Izak Rankine will miss up to eight weeks with a hamstring injury sustained during the Suns' JLT Community Series loss to Sydney in Lismore.
"Given the specifics of Izak's injury, the explosive nature with which he plays the game and where he is at in his career, we’ll take a responsible approach with Izak and make sure his rehabilitation is thorough and sets him up well moving forwards," Gold Coast's head of physiotherapy Lindsay Bull said.
Izak Rankine is the sixth of seven children to Ronald and Kerry, and it doesn't take long chatting with the 18-year-old before talk switches to his family.
"My family is big and we've always been tight knit. They were just happy to see someone in the family had made it," he said.
"I'm just waiting to pounce, take my opportunity and shine, do my thing and make everyone proud back home.
"I love my family. I've always had their support from the start and now I'm going to have to be my own man, do my own thing and hopefully I make them proud."
Port Adelaide has fired a warning shot at Gold Coast, declaring it would back itself to lure highly rated draftees Jack Lukosius or Izak Rankine back home if the Suns recruit either of them.
"If Lukosius and Rankine end up going to Gold Coast, we're probably pretty happy to try to get them back in a few years' time," Cripps said.
"It's interesting, because then it just becomes a two-horse race between us and the Crows, as opposed to a Victorian kid that wants to come back home, who has potentially got 10 options."