Bombers to cop 'please explain' over runner's antics

The AFL is expected to issue a "please explain" to Essendon after a club runner got physically involved in a brouhaha during Saturday's game.

Collingwood great Travis Cloke entered the fray as Bombers and Swans players came together in fiery scenes at the SCG.

Cloke - a power forward who booted 452 AFL goals before retiring in 2017 - ran into the melee to drag several Essendon players away after the umpire paid the Bombers a free kick.

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While he wasn't penalised at the time, reports claim head office is set to formally ask Cloke to explain why he chose to get involved.

"The Travis Cloke one is interesting," former player Nathan Brown said on Nine's The Sunday Footy Show.

"I was watching it last night and thought 'he's doing the right thing in getting his players out'.

"But then I thought what if that is in a local league, at a suburban ground anywhere around Australia?

"And you've got players who don't really know who Travis Cloke is, a runner from the other side, that could then blow up into a full-on (fight).

"There is respect for Travis Cloke because people probably know who he was but at the lower levels you don't want to see that."

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Luckily for Cloke he wasn't confronted by any Swans players and was able to remove himself from the scene without touching anyone not in a Bombers kit.

AFL journalist Damien Barrett suggested the league will want to crack down on Cloke, particularly after the antics of North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson during a pre-season game.

Clarkson was involved in a foul-mouthed yelling match with several St Kilda players following Jimmy Webster's illegal hit on Kangaroos captain Jy Simpkin.

The AFL hit Clarkson with a $20,000 fine and a suspended two-game ban for his outburst.

Melbourne captain Max Gawn was torn on the Cloke issue when quizzed on Triple M radio on Monday.

"I would love my runner to do that, but I would hate the opposition runner to do that," Gawn said.

"I would lean towards Clokey shouldn't have done that. I would say Cloke, if he had his time again, he might not have done it.

"I think he did do the right thing. The fight stopped. So maybe they've got Cloke to thank.

"But if that was an opposition runner, I'd be a bit iffy about it."

The Swans beat the Bombers by 30 points after running away from them in the fourth quarter.