North Melbourne coach Brad Scott believes the Jeremy Laidler incident has given the AFL the ammunition it needs to crack down on runners.
The Sydney runner is likely to be sanctioned by the AFL for his actions during the frenetic end to the Swans' six-point win over North Melbourne.
Laidler, the former Carlton and Sydney defender, came onto the ground with 93 seconds left in Sunday's game at Etihad Stadium.
Rather than deliver messages to players and leave the ground immediately, he stayed out on the field and appeared to be trying to block space.
Scott on Wednesday declined to speculate on whether Laidler was engaging in gamesmanship, adding that he hadn't been aware of the incident until after the game.
But Scott, who is a member of the AFL competition committee which is weighing up sweeping rule changes for next season, believes restrictions on runners are inevitable.
"Runners sometimes have a hard time getting on, and coaches give them multiple messages ... they get a spray if they don't give all those messages so I can understand why he was out there (for so long)," Scott said.
"I think what it does do is give the AFL the ammunition they've been looking for to reduce the use of runners.
"I'm in a bit of a tough position because I've got access to information that's really not for the public domain at this stage. It's fair to say that there's a fair bit of discussion about it.
"When there's ammunition like that for the AFL to use, it becomes hard to argue against."
Sydney coach John Longmire has denied vehemently that Laidler was doing anything other than delivering messages but the Swans' runner is likely to be warned or receive a small fine.
AFL football operations manager Steve Hocking said what Laidler did was not in the spirit of the game, while noting it was unfair to single him out because so many runners did much the same thing.
"I like using the runner as all coaches do," Scott said.
"I do have a view that there are too many officials on the ground at various stages. Because we have access to different camera angles which show the entire ground, it's amazing how many non-footballers are running around on the ground at different stages."
