SYDNEY runner Jeremy Laidler is under fire after appearing to man up with a free North Melbourne opponent during the closing stages of the Swans’ win over the Kangaroos.

And the incident has Geelong coach Chris Scott suspecting it will add to the calls of those who want runners removed from AFL matches.

Laidler spent the overwhelming majority of the final minutes of the match in the centre square of Etihad Stadium. He was seen directing players to man up and slow the game down.

Finals Week 1

But most worryingly, he appeared to be hanging around the North Melbourne player standing loose outside of a stoppage, potentially placing him in eyesight of Ben Cunnington as he cleared the ball and persuading him to kick elsewhere.

“The worry there is the runner was manning up the loose (man) on the way out of the stoppage,” AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley said on Fox Footy.

“Now, the play is between Laidler and the bench, and I’m sure the Swans would argue that.

“But the manner that he conducts himself with the player in the space from where the stoppage is, suggests that he was putting himself in visibility as to where the North Melbourne player was.”

LIVE Stream every match of every round of the 2018 Toyota AFL Premiership Season. SIGN UP NOW >

Cats coach Scott was concerned even if Laidler was just performing some on-field coaching.

“The runners shouldn’t be out there to direct players to man up free players, which appeared to be what was going on there,” he said.

But Scott believes the AFL has a problem with incidents such as this across the entire competition.

“What’s the main reason for wanting them out of the game? I suspect it’s because we don’t want games influenced too much from off the field,” he said.

“Runners effectively should be almost off-the-field officials that come on with the message and get off. But to be the 19th player out there is I think what the AFL is railing against.”

Get the ultimate AFL experience on your phone with the new FOX FOOTY App. Download it NOW for FREE on iOS and Android!

St Kilda coach Alan Richardson suggested a team in Sydney’s position would be happy to pay any potential fine if the runner helped them win the game.

“I’m sure you’ve (Scott) yelled out at times — I don’t care, send the water boy, send the doctor out, send whatever you need out there, we need to get this message out in those really critical moments of the game,” he said.

Richardson suggested penalising teams via a free kick, and timing how long the runner spends on the ground, could be a solution to this issue.

“A free kick is different (to a fine). If it is that someone’s in a position to time the runner — and it wouldn’t be hard, there’s a lot of officials sitting in that umpire’s dugout,” he said.

“We’d be aware of that timing and so would the runner. That’s the way to change things.”