Revealed: The brutal sledge AFL star copped before he uttered anti-gay slur that looks set to end his season
Magpies recruit Dan Houston - who joined the club from Port Adelaide on a six-year deal - reportedly sledged Rankine in relation to an incident in which the ex-Power player knocked him out last season in a Showdown derby clash.
Houston received a five-week ban for concussing Rankine with a high bump last August, which ended his time with Port Adelaide on a sour note.
It is understood the Crows will use the incident in their submission to the AFL, adamant Rankine was fired up by Houston.
The player Rankine later targeted with his anti-gay slur has not been identified by the AFL, but it is not believed to be Houston.
Adelaide - who will be minor premiers if they beat North Melbourne this weekend - have also told the AFL missing finals games should carry more weight than missing home-and-away clashes.
They also believe a three-game ban is appropriate.
Rankine is said to be shattered, with the likely suspension expected to end his premiership dream for 2025.
Former Crows coach Scott Camporeale has no doubt the club will be disappointed in Rankine's conduct.
'We (football identities) are supposed to be standing up for these things,' Camporeale told Adelaide radio station 5AA.
'They are well-educated these players... they are the best-educated group in the country around race, gender and all those things.
'And (yet) we continually keep having to go through these scenarios.'
Camporeale added that Rankine's teammates and coaches would feel let down by the 25-year-old.
'Matthew Nicks would be pretty disappointed as a senior coach,' he said.
'He is a September player, Izak Rankine. He's the No.1 score-involvement player for the Crows.
'Can they still win it? I think they can, it's never just one player. (But) most of them would be pretty disappointed because they know how integral he is to the team.'
Crows club legend Rory Sloane was equally frustrated, declaring his opposition to the club's attempts to get the suspension downgraded on Channel Nine's Footy Classified.
'It's laziness coming up with an excuse like that, isn't it?', he said of Adelaide's defence that Rankine was targeted.
Ominously for Rankine, West Coast's Jack Graham was banned for four games in July after making a homophobic remark to a GWS player.
In April last year, Port Adelaide's Jeremy Finlayson banned for three games and then Gold Coast's Wil Powell was suspended for five matches after they both directed homophobic slurs at opponents.
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