BRISBANE coach Craig Starcevich is hopeful the AFL will close some loopholes on a “dangerous” act that saw small forward Ruby Svarc concussed last weekend.

Svarc was running into an open goal late in the win over Gold Coast, when young defender Annabel Kievit’s late challenge from behind sent the Lion crashing to the turf.

She was assisted from the field and will miss Saturday’s match against Port Adelaide as she ticks off the concussion protocols.

Kievit was not cited by the MRO, leading to Brisbane calling headquarters to seek clarification on the incident.

“We’ve also spoken to the AFL around how you classify that, and they’ve assured us there’s some things they’ll look at at the end of the year,” Starcevich said on Friday morning.

“There is a school of thought that we might have missed something there in terms of protecting the player from that type of injury in that play.

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Ruby Svarc comes from the field after being tackled heavily by Annabel Kievit on the goal line as she booted a late major

“To me it looked flat out dangerous.

“From our competition point of view, both men and women, it’s something we’re all a little puzzled about, but I’ve got some assurances from the League that they’ll try and close some of those loopholes.”

Starcevich said following the incident he thought Brisbane should have been awarded another free kick, but after getting clarification from the umpiring department, was satisfied with their explanation.

“The umpiring department came back to us during the week, which I thought was great, just to explain there’d been a bit of a mistake with that one,” he said.

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“And I get that, because they’ve been through the wringer in the last month with secondary free kicks in front of goal, so I get that the umpires would be a little gun shy on paying those.”

Brisbane will be out for a fourth straight win when it hosts Port at Brighton Homes Arena in captain Bre Koenen’s 100th game.

Starcevich said the two-time premiers were closing in on returning to their best football but would have to be at their best against a desperate opponent.

“Their good is exceptional, so we’re preparing for the team that played in a prelim last year.

“Their top end is something to be very cautious about, that’s for sure. They’ve got lots of talented young players … there’s plenty of threats Port have we need to be really careful of.”