Brisbane champion Jonathan Brown believes Alex Rance's dive on Saturday was one of the worst performances he's seen by a player, and said those who dive should be fined in a bid to stamp out the action.
Rance and Franklin were involved in a push and shove battle late in the third quarter before the Richmond star went down after Buddy pushed him in the throat, with the umpire awarding Rance a free kick.
Brown suggested diving has begun to creep into the AFL, and wants players to have to pay for their actions.
“There is an influx of divers, you’d think Greg Louganis is out there playing AFL at the moment,” Brown said on Nova 100’s Chrissie, Sam and Browny radio show on Monday morning.
“Well, diving through blokes playing for free kicks and (this man) was one of the worst.
“Alex Rance on the weekend when Buddy pushed him in the chest took one of the greatest dives in history, I expect him to see him next May getting a Logie for that performance.”
Diving first reared its ugly head back in 2011, when Angus Monfires admitted to diving to receive a free kick against Jordan Lewis, with Lewis going on to be suspended for the headbutt.
Brown says a financial penalty should be enough to ward off players from continuing to dive, and said the heavier the penalty the better.
“The boys are diving and I think there needs to be heavy fines given out to these guys staging for free kicks and diving,” Brown said.
“We need to clean this up straight away, the divers have got to go.”