St Kilda have called for greater consistency and clarity in the AFL tribunal system after a drawn-out process resulted in Lance Collard's penalty for a homophobic slur being reduced to a two-week ban.

Collard was partially successful in his appeal on Thursday night against an initial seven-week ban, with a further two weeks suspended, after being found guilty of calling a VFL opponent a "f***ing f****t" last month.

The appeal board, chaired by Will Houghton KC, backed the AFL disciplinary tribunal's decision that Collard was guilty of conduct unbecoming and dismissed St Kilda's appeal against that finding.

However, the appeal board agreed with the Saints that the initial penalty was manifestly excessive.

Collard is banned for two weeks, with a further two-week penalty suspended until the end of next season.

The decision brought the matter to a close almost four weeks after the incident took place in a VFL match on March 27.

"The club remains focused on supporting Lance throughout what has been a challenging period and asks for his privacy as he makes his return to play," St Kilda said in a statement.

"Despite the reduction in sanction, St Kilda remains disappointed with how the matter was assessed and believes greater consistency and clarity in the AFL's tribunal process is important moving forward."

The Saints' call comes a week after Port Adelaide demanded an overhaul of the AFL tribunal system in the wake of Zak Butters' case.

The Power were incensed Butters' testimony was rejected by the tribunal in the controversial "umpire abuse" case that sparked what St Kilda coach Ross Lyon described as "a firestorm".

Lyon also expressed concern about the welfare of individuals involved in drawn-out processes, saying fringe player Collard had been left in a "holding pattern" when waiting to learn his fate.

"All of us from club-land are concerned about our individual players and the stress that they're put through and potential damage to that individual - whether it's Butters or Collard or the people being caught up on the other side of the fence," Lyon said last week.

"It's very challenging and there's no doubt there's going to be losers and people that are damaged ... that sits really heavily."

Collard was charged with conduct unbecoming over a confrontation with Frankston player Darby Hipwell that took place in their VFL clash on March 27.

The 21-year-old, who was banned for two matches over a separate striking incident that sparked the confrontation, faced the tribunal on a charge of conduct unbecoming on April 9.

A guilty verdict was confirmed the following day, with the tribunal rejecting Collard's evidence that he had used the term "maggot", and he was sanctioned at a separate hearing on April 14.

It is the second time in three seasons Collard has been found guilty of using homophobic language in a VFL match.

He was banned for six games in 2024 after admitting to using the same slur on-field.

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