Collingwood skipper Darcy Moore has thrown his support around Mitch Brown, while stressing the AFL industry still has a lot of work to do when it comes to homophobia.
Brown became the first past or present player to come out as bisexual on Wednesday, leading to widespread support across the footy world.
His courageous move came just days after Izak Rankine was suspended for four games for using a homophobic slur in a game against Moore's Magpies.
Moore, who is also president of the AFL Players’ Association, was asked about the impact Brown's revelation could have moving forward.
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“It was firstly just tremendously courageous, wasn’t it?" he said. "Such an inspiring story.
“For (Brown) to be so open and so brave like that, I think it’s so important (and) I think there’s a lot to learn from Mitch’s story.
“For him to share that is a real opportunity for us going forward to shift culture and see some change in the industry.
“Clearly, the amount of on-field incidents over the last few years shows we do still have an issue.
“As a Players’ Association we’ve been advocating for a long time to work side by side with the league to move the needle on homophobia in the game and making the game safer and more inclusive for everyone.
“I am confident with these recent events we can do that.”
Moore and his Collingwood side face Adelaide again in a qualifying final on Thursday night.
The 29-year-old said while problems still exist in the footy community, there should no longer be any doubt what is acceptable on the footy field.
Rankine's suspension was the sixth by an AFL listed player in the past two years for using a homophobic slur.
“At the end of the day, it’s very, very clear when a red line is crossed and what is right and what is not welcome in our industry," he added.
“It’s pretty emphatic that homophobic slurs are not welcome in our industry."