AFL: Clubs accountable for studs, says Gill McLachlan in wake of horror injury
Gillon McLachlan says clubs need to be held accountable for the footwear their players use in the wake of the injury to Isaac Quaynor.
Footballers around the country are restopping their boots after a gruesome injury suffered by Magpie Isaac Quaynor prompted the AFL to issue a league-wide rebuke.
The Swans have dodged a potential $40,000 fine for breaching the league’s rules related to dangerous footwear after the studs on boots worn by debutant Sam Wicks sliced Quaynor’s shin open.
There is concern Swans defender Dean Rampe was also wearing the same boots, made by club sponsor Nike, in an incident that caused pain to Collingwood forward Will Hoskin-Elliott earlier in the match.
Quaynor could miss at least a fortnight after suffering a deep gash estimated to be up to 21cm on his shin.
Mindful of the potential risk of infection, Collingwood’s medical staff used extreme caution when treating the 20-year-old on the field at the Gabba. Collingwood players were worried about the studs or stops some Swans were wearing and coach Nathan Buckley raised his concerns after the Magpies’ nine-point win.
He said the severity of the injury pointed to something amiss with the boots worn by Wicks.
The Swans confirmed on Friday that the boots were in breach of AFL guidelines, but said Wicks’s mistake was inadvertent and that he was simply wearing the boots given to him.
“The Swans can confirm that the boots Wicks was wearing were standard issue screw-in boots that have a hybrid soleplate which includes plastic and aluminium stops,” a club statement read.
“These boots are understood to be widely worn by players across the competition. The Sydney Swans will take steps to rectify this immediately to ensure all boots are compliant going forward.”
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan warned clubs in the aftermath of the accident that they are liable for any damage that occurs as a result of dangerous footwear.
At some levels of football, umpires in charge of games inspect the boots of players before matches, but that does not occur in the AFL, as Buckley said.
“In the end we don’t get (boots) checked. It is not the under-12s where the umpire comes and checks all the studs before you play,” he said.
Usually the task is handled by club staff members or a bootstudder, but the carnage caused by COVID-19 means clubs have had to significantly reduce staffing levels this year.
“The umpires don’t check the boots because there are bootstudders and multiple staff,” McLachlan said on Melbourne radio.
“But I think the clubs and the individuals need to be accountable for not having dangerous footwear and steel stops in the regulations are deemed to be that.”
AFL football operations manager Steve Hocking issued an urgent reminder to clubs about the importance of ensuring the boots worn by players complied with regulations ahead of round 11 beginning on Saturday.
“Football boots with exposed metal studs have the potential to cause injuries and have no place at any level of our game,” he said.
“There are players in the competition who are 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. Where we can make the game safer for everyone involved, we will.”
The unfortunate injury to Quaynor was not the only unusual incident stemming from a tight game, with Sydney star Tom Papley issued with a rare sanction for staging.
Just a fortnight after Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said few players “milked” a free kick better than the small forward, the AFL has penalised him for acting in what is a blight on his reputation.
Papley, who is equal second in the Coleman Medal, dived forward after receiving light contact in the back from Brayden Maynard at a critical time in the match and was paid a free kick.
Maynard reportedly told Papley it was the “flop of the year” immediately after the incident, which occurred at a critical time in the match and earned him a $500 sanction should he enter an early guilty plea.
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