West Coast coach Andrew McQualter doubles down on Jack Graham defence after homophobic slur

West Australian

a day ago

West Coast coach Andrew McQualter has doubled down on his defence of midfielder Jack Graham after the former Tiger was handed a four-game suspension for using a single-word homophobic slur.
It comes as Giants coach Adam Kingsley revealed Graham had reached out to him to apologise, as well as the affected player.
Graham self-reported the incident after the Eagles' clash with Greater Western Sydney in round 17 and was handed a suspension just hours before West Coast played Port Adelaide on Sunday.
During the post-match press conference in the wake of West Coast's 26-point loss, Adelaide McQualter said he and the club would continue supporting Graham and ensuring he underwent education.
McQualter then doubled down on Monday, telling 7NEWS the act was out of character for Graham and that they had accepted the four-week ban as an appropriate punishment.
'We were all surprised and disappointed that it happened,' he said.
'It's out of character for Jack, but it's a mistake that he's made. He owned his mistake, and he'll cop the punishment that comes with it.
'Jack will do some education, which will be critical for him. It's ongoing with our whole club, and we'll speak to Jack about what else he can do to help educate others and make sure this doesn't happen again.'
The Eagles' coach and Graham have a long relationship that stretches back to the pair's days at Richmond, before both moved west during the 2025 off-season.
When asked by AFL360 whether the incident would affect Graham's chances of a leadership role at his new side, McQualter said one error didn't cross out his 'terrific' attributes.
'I think Jack made a really bad error, but I don't think we should judge a person on just one mistake. He's a terrific leader,' he said.
'It was an out-of-character error, and he'll cop a severe punishment for it, and hopefully, he's part of the solution going forward and continues to educate others.'
Kingsley added he and the Giants were satisfied by the process, despite a delayed ruling and punishment.
'I think the process that unfolded was to wait for an official report to be made by the umpire or match day official, and when that wasn't lodged, then I think the appropriate course of action was taken and the AFL were alerted,' he said on AFL360.
'Then the process sort of unfolded from that. We were satisfied with the process and outcome.
'Jack reached out to both myself and the player involved to apologise so I thought that was good of both Jack and the West Coast Eagles, you know, very much appreciated.
'We all know there's no place for that in our game, and people make mistakes, and it's important to educate and forgive.'
McQualter has not been the only one to come out in defence of the burly midfielder, with co-captain Liam Duggan labelling the concerning incident a 'slip of the tongue'.
'We spoke about it this morning, all the details were finalised. Jack owned it completely; he was able to get up in front of the boys and just let everyone know what was going on,' Duggan told The West Australian on Sunday.
'He's very remorseful, he's owned the mistake that he made. He's in our leadership group, he's a great character.
'Slip of the tongue, and we know he's learnt his lesson well and truly.
'We'll miss Jack for three more games, but we'll completely stick behind him.'