Finlayson frustrated over three-match ban for slur

Earlier this year, North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson was penalised for allegedly using the word “c—sucker” during a verbal tirade towards St Kilda player Jimmy Webster after the Saint’s bump on one of Clarkson’s players.

Clarkson received a $20,000 fine and suspended sentence of two matches and education for the allegedly homophobic spray.

As part of his penalty, Finlayson was required to pay for and attend “appropriate Pride in Sport training as approved by the AFL”.

Marsh said the AFLPA was concerned about the discrepancy between sanctions for players and officials.

“We believe the AFL is consistently inconsistent and there are double standards in its approach to dealing with players compared to others on behavioural matters,” Marsh said.

“This issue highlights the lack of clarity on how the AFL handles these situations and we want this to be the catalyst for an urgent review of the sanctioning framework.”

Earlier this week, AFL Commission chair Richard Goyder defended the league’s decision to suspend Finlayson.

“I don’t think there’s a difference in the sense that the AFL has taken a very strong stance on that issue – and that stance is the most important thing,” Goyder said on Monday.

“We’ll look at the penalty … hopefully this never happens again. If it does happen again, we’ll look at an appropriate penalty under the circumstances.

“Both penalties were a very strong signal from the AFL that there’s no place in our game for those sort of actions.”

Finlayson will miss round five, six and seven, including in the SANFL.

With AAP.