AFL puts boot into metal studs after injury

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 he 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 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.

Sydney apologised to Quaynor yesterday, saying it would immediately ensure all of its players’ 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 check boots pre-game.

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 game day footwear, have been excluded in the football department quarantine bubble at many clubs.

Manufacturers routinely warn players metal stops have to be removed from their specialised ‘soft ground’ boots before being worn in games.

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley raised the alarm after the match, saying Collingwood players were discussing whether Wicks was wearing prohibited metal studs in the rooms.

AFL champions, including Brad Johnson and Dermott Brereton, were stunned footwear in the modern era had incorporated metal stops given they were always seen as banned.