Lance Collard Biography

The round 13 match between Sydney and St Kilda will no longer be designated a 'Pride Game' amid the fallout from the Lance Collard Tribunal case earlier this year.

The Swans and Saints were due to play in the Pride Game at the SCG on Sunday June 7, an annual event that sees the game celebrate and stand united with LGBTIQA+ communities.

But the recent case of Collard, who was found guilty of using a homophobic slur towards an opponent - a charge he and the Saints strongly deny - has led to the decision to remove the Pride Game designation from the Swans-Saints clash.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says Lance Collard's use of a homophobic slur deserved a much stronger penalty and rejected the Appeals Board's reasoning for its decision.

Dillon said the AFL had originally sought a 10-game suspension for Collard, given it was his second offence.

"That sanction reflected the seriousness of using a homophobic slur on the field and was intended to set a clear standard for our game - particularly given this was a second offence," he said.

"The Appeals Board last night reduced the sanction to a four-match suspension, with two matches suspended until the end of next year. In our view, stronger action was not only warranted - it was necessary.

"Let me be clear: homophobia has no place in Australian football. Not at any level. Not under any circumstances."

Lance Collard's nine-week suspension for using homophobic language has been decreased to four weeks, two of which have been suspended, at the AFL Appeal Board.

The Board, comprised of Chair Will Houghton KC, former player Stephen Jurica, and Georgina Coghlan KC, however, dismissed the St Kilda forward's appeal against the charge of conduct unbecoming, meaning the charge stands, but Collard has received a different sanction.

In a hearing that ran just shy of two hours, the Board considered the original suspension to be "manifestly excessive" given Collard's young age, Indigenous heritage and difficult background, the fact the victim was not personally offended, the relative lesser seriousness compared to Collard's previous use of the slur, and the context of the game in which the incident occurred.

It considered the effect of such a ban could be "crippling" on his career.

St Kilda will appeal the nine-match suspension handed to Lance Collard for using a homophobic slur.

"As a club, we will continue to stand by Lance, who maintains his position of innocence. This process has had a considerable impact on Lance, and we are committed to ensuring he is not only supported but that his integrity is defended through the appropriate process," the club said in a statement.

ance Collard has been suspended for nine weeks - two of those suspended for the 2026 and 2027 seasons - for conduct unbecoming after using a homophobic slur during a VFL game, as determined by the AFL Disciplinary Tribunal.

"Homophobic slurs are harmful and entirely unacceptable," Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC said.

"It is important that the sanction serves not only as a clear condemnation of the use of homophobic slurs, but that it addresses the requirement for general deterrence such that other VFL and AFL players clearly understand that homophobic slurs are completely unacceptable and will result in a significant sanction, and specific deterrence so that this message is further reinforced to Collard."

Lance Collard is found guilty of conduct unbecoming after the AFL Disciplinary Tribunal found sufficient evidence Collard had said a homophobic slur during St Kilda's VFL match against Frankston on March 27.

The Tribunal will re-sit at a later date to hear both the AFL and St Kilda's submissions as to the sanction Collard should receive before handing down its penalty to Collard.

Lance Collard cops a ban of at least two matches for a high hit in the VFL as the AFL investigates allegations he made a homophobic slur in a separate incident in the same game.

Lance Collard makes his AFL debut for St Kilda at Kardinia Park in an 8-point loss to Geelong.

St Kilda select Lance Collard with pick No.28 in the 2023 National Draft.