Sydney Swans coach John Longmire has called on the AFL to review the rule allowing runners to only enter the ground when a goal is kicked after superstar Lance Franklin went down injured on Friday night.
Franklin tweaked his left hamstring late in the third quarter of the Swans’ 19-point victory over Hawthorn at the SCG.
The 32-year-old spent the final quarter on the bench with his left hamstring wrapped in ice after earlier kicking four goals in his 299th AFL game.
Franklin, who missed four games with a hamstring injury earlier in the season, told Channel 7 after the match, ‘I’ve strained the hammy again’.
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Longmire confirmed at his post-match press conference the veteran sustained a hamstring injury but would not speculate on the severity of his latest injury.
But the coach did voice his concern over the fact the veteran was forced to stay off the field for around eight minutes of the third quarter before he sustained the injury because the Swans were unable to get a message onto the field to make an interchange.
"You can’t get a runner out there (to make an interchange),” Longmire said.
"We wanted him on, believe me we want him on, but when there's a long time in play before a goal’s kicked you can't actually get (a player) off (the ground) now.
"Players are watching … and maybe we could have looked over our shoulder and got off – we were trying to call out from the bench but you can't actually do anything.
"I don't know if that contributed (to the injury) or not and nobody will ever know.”
Asked if the AFL should revisit the rules around the use of runners during the off-season, Longmire said: “I'd like to think they would (look at the rule), but I don’t know whether they will.
"You'd like to think that we would be able to get the runner out there occasionally a bit more than what we are, we're not out to ruin the game.
"Often it's about rotating players and getting them on and off the ground, and protecting them at times, rather than trying to choke up the game and do it that way."
