Collard rejected suggestions he called an opponent a "f***ing faggot" during a four-hour Tribunal session on Thursday, and has signed a statutory declaration to that effect.
Frankston player Darby Hipwell alleges Collard used the phrase in an on-field altercation during a VFL match last month.
The allegation is supported by Hipwell's teammate Bailey Lambert, though umpire Sam Morgan, who was near the players at the time of the incident, said he did not hear Collard's alleged comment.
The Tribunal did not reach a determination before Thursday's 5pm deadline and will instead hand down its verdict on Friday.
Collard, who was banned for six matches for using the same homophobic word in 2024, is adamant he did not use it this time.
He insisted he said: "Come here, maggot."
"I admitted it last time when I said it, but I never said it this time," Collard said.
"I signed an oath during the week about it, saying that I'm being 100 per cent honest.
"Last time I stood up and admitted it and I took it and I was remorseful."
The AFL is seeking a 10-week suspension for Collard, rather than a 10-match suspension, if he is found guilty of conduct unbecoming.
The Tribunal must be "comfortably satisfied" Collard used the homophobic slur in order to find him guilty.
Collard's lawyer, Michael Borsky KC, argued his client had been denied procedural fairness by being charged under the wrong rule and said there was no objective evidence against the player.
He added Collard had "voluntarily exposed himself to the risk of perjury in order to clear his name", acknowledging the potential penalties for knowingly signing a false statutory declaration.
AFL lawyer Andrew Woods SC said the Tribunal should be comfortably satisfied Collard used the alleged word, given he has done so before.
Woods also said it was "inherently unlikely" Collard said "come here maggot" because he was in the process of letting go of Hipwell's jumper at the time of the incident.
Hipwell and Lambert both gave evidence on Thursday and were adamant they could not have misheard Collard.
"He had his head up against my ear and he said the words to me, 'Darby, you 'f***ing faggot'," Hipwell said.
"I'm not sure whether he said 'you' or 'you are'."
Borsky did not accuse Hipwell and Lambert of giving false evidence but suggested they had made mistakes in what they had heard.
"There's no possibility that I misheard him. I heard exactly what he said," Hipwell said.
Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson is confident a verdict will be reached on Friday.
"We're well advanced in our discussions and deliberations, but not in a position to communicate our position," Gleeson said.
"We are meeting again tomorrow and will resume our deliberations."
Hipwell and Collard previously played together with VFL club Sandringham when that side was St Kilda's state-league affiliate.
Collard is already serving a two-match ban stemming from a high hit on an opponent in the same VFL match he allegedly used the homophobic slur.
Collard's swinging arm to the head of Jackson Voss sparked the on-field melee which led to the altercation in question.
