Play at the Gabba was stopped with three minutes left in the match - and with the Swans leading by three points - so that trainers could attend to Sydney ruckman Callum Sinclair.

The ball was in Brisbane's forward line at the time, more than 100 metres from where Sinclair had fallen.

He was able to walk from the ground, at which point play was restarted with a ball-up.

Lions coach Justin Leppitsch was furious after the game, given the break in play had given Sydney time to rush numbers into the Brisbane forward line.

"After reviewing what occurred, it was the AFL view that play was incorrectly stopped in this scenario," said AFL spokesman Patrick Keane.

"The umpire has the discretion to stop continuous play when it may interfere with an injured player or the persons attending an injured player.

"This was not the case here with play at the opposite end to the ground to the injured player.

"When a stretcher is on the ground or has been called for, play will be stopped at the next break in play – at the next mark, ball-up, out of bounds, free kick – but again this was not the case in this instance.

"The decision to stop play at the time it was stopped was an error."