The AFL will investigate whether the leg injury suffered by Collingwood’s Isaac Quaynor was the result of an opponent wearing boots with illegal metal studs. Quaynor was hurt during the dying stages of the Magpies’ narrow win over Sydney on Thursday night when he tackled Sydney debutant Sam Wicks.
Wicks’ boots accidentally raked down the front of Quaynor’s shin as the players fell to the ground and left a deep wound that will sideline the Magpies defender for multiple weeks.
After the match, the Swans told media Wicks was wearing “standard issue screw-ins”. But images have since emerged that show Wicks may have been wearing a hybrid Nike boot that includes some metal studs.
It is unclear what penalty, if any, either Wicks or the Swans would face if he was wearing metal studs, as the incident is believed to be unprecedented.
“It’s against AFL regulations, clearly, to have metal stops,” AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan told 3AW radio on Friday. “The umpires don’t [check players’ boots] … I think the clubs and the individuals need to be accountable for not having dangerous footwear.”
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, who has spent almost three decades in the AFL system, said the damage to Quaynor was unlike any he had ever seen.
“I haven’t heard of that happening in all my time in footy,” Buckley said. “Studs pierce the skin periodically … but you would never see what happened to Isaac in that last quarter ever.”
Quaynor was taken off the field on a stretcher and images showed a wound measuring more than half the length of his shin.
“His [Wicks’] studs sort of raked across his shin and actually split his [Quaynor’s] shin six or eight inches completely open,” Buckley said. “The kid could’ve had metal studs in as well, so that was his bad luck, to tackle the only kid that had that.
“That will be a couple of weeks [out of action] and it will depend on how we can clean the wound and heal that up.”
Sydney coach John Longmire was asked in his post-match press conference whether any of his players were wearing metal studs, but he was not sure. “It’s the first I’ve heard of it, I’ve got no idea,” he said.
A Swans spokesperson later said the boots were “standard issue screw-ins”.