Collingwood’s Isaac Quaynor has leg split open when attempting to lay tackle against Sydney
Sydney has escaped with a warning after Collingwood youngster Isaac Quaynor had his leg gashed by a banned boot, but the league has warned clubs face massive fines if players continue to wear prohibited footwear.
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The AFL has warned clubs they face $40,000 fines if players wear illegal boots with metal stops following Isaac Quaynor’s horrific leg injury on Thursday night.
Quaynor’s leg was sliced open by the stops in Sydney player Sam Wicks’ boots and the Magpie faces weeks on the sidelines after the gash was surgically repaired.
Swans defender Dane Rampe was also believed to be wearing illegal hybrid boots that combined metal and plastic stops.
The league, which has failed to keep up with modern boot designs with its rules and regulations, has let Sydney off without penalty.
But it told clubs that exposed metal studs “have no place across any level in our game”.
AFL umpires do not check boots before games, a common practice at junior level. The AFL had also failed to check with boot manufacturers, including Nike, to see what kind of boots they were issuing to players.
***WARNING: This story contains graphic content***
Sydney apologised to Quaynor on Friday, saying it would immediately ensure all player boots were compliant.
Despite the threat of fines, the AFL will leave it up to players and clubs to police the rule, with no plans to get umpires to make pre-game checks.
Many AFL players wear similar boots with at least some metal studs, but most also have moulded plastic versions that they will be forced to use in the future.
Regular boot studders who help players with their gameday footwear have been excluded in the football department quarantine bubble at many clubs.
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Manufacturers routinely warn players that metal stops have to be removed from their specialised ‘soft ground’ boots before they can be worn in AFL games.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley raised the alarm after the match, saying his players were discussing in the changerooms whether Wicks was wearing prohibited metal studs.
AFL football boss Steve Hocking warned clubs they needed to ensure boots were not a danger to rival players.
“There are players in the competition who have been wearing boots direct from manufacturers that feature screw-in studs that have a hybrid soleplate, which includes both plastic and aluminium stops, and these are not compliant with AFL regulations,” he said.
“It is the responsibility of clubs and players to work with manufacturers to ensure football boots worn by all players are compliant with AFL regulations and ensure a duty of care to themselves, their teammates and opposition players.”
Collingwood is satisfied with the outcome even though Quaynor was the victim, with the young Pie bandaged but walking without the aid of crutches yesterday.
The AFL’s Regulation 4.6 (Other Apparel) states that “metal stops on boots are not permitted to be worn during a Match”.
THE INCIDENT:
Hoping Isaac Quaynor is okay.
— AFL (@AFL) August 6, 2020
The Collingwood defender has been taken off on the stretcher. #AFLPiesSwans pic.twitter.com/conTqLO516
Buckley said on Thursday night there was intrigue over the types of studs Wicks must have been wearing to cause such a significant gash.
“His (Wicks’) studs raked across his (Quaynor’s) shin and actually split his shin six to eight inches completely open,” Buckley said.
“The kid could have had metal studs in as well, so that was his bad luck to fall on the only kid (on the ground) who had that.
AND THE AFTERMATH:
“That will be a couple of weeks. It will depend on how you clean the wound and heal that up.”
Asked if metal studs were permitted in the AFL, Buckley said “I don’t believe so”.
“In the end we don’t get them checked. It is not under 12s the where the umpire comes and checks all the studs before you play,” he said.
After the game, Swans coach John Longmire said he was unaware of what exactly had happened before the club claimed Wicks had worn “standard issue boots with a combination of metal and plastic studs”.
Hawthorn legend Dermott Brereton said the freakish injury to Quaynor was “really, really bad luck”.
“Some players do go the process where they are the only ones who touch their boots, because you‘ve only got two pieces of equipment - mouthguard and your boots,” Brereton said on Fox Footy.
“Some players say, ‘I look after my equipment’, while some actually will get the bootstudders to do it.”
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Originally published as Collingwood’s Isaac Quaynor has leg split open when attempting to lay tackle against Sydney