West Coast coach defends veteran's character after ban for homophobic slur
Despite continued hefty penalties being dished out to AFL players across recent seasons, Graham was found to have issued the single-word slur during his team's loss to the GWS Giants in round 17.
Graham, a premiership player with Richmond, self-reported the slur, some five days after the incident, and was handed a four-week ban, reduced because of his admission.
The 27-year-old was withdrawn from the side that suffered a fighting 26-point loss to Port Adelaide on Sunday and McQualter addressed the issue for the first time at the start of his post-match press conference by launching a defence of Graham.
'Jack clearly made a mistake and owned his mistake,' McQualter said.
'Jack's a really good person, I've known him for a very long time, this is an error on Jack's behalf, and he understands that it doesn't align with the values of our club.
'The process we went through was that the club was informed, and we worked with the Giants and then eventually with the AFL.
'Jack's accepted his sanction and understands where it lies.
'Our priority now is to look after Jack and his wellbeing and to continue to educate our players as much as we can.
'I appreciate that it's a story and it has got some interest, but we're just going to continue to support Jack.
'Jack's a very good person, he used one word that was a mistake, and he's copped a serious punishment for that word.'
Graham used the same homophobic slur that earnt Gold Coast player Wil Powell a five-match ban last season.
He called a GWS player a 'f--king f----t'.
It's understood Graham's remorse moved him to alert West Coast officials, and it's been reported he even personally rang AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon to apologise.
That contrition helped the AFL land on a four-week ban, having gradually increased suspensions amid a raft of incidents.
Port Adelaide's Jeremy Finlayson was given a three-week ban before Powell copped his five-game suspension.
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