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.

Source: Superfooty Twitter

Brown suggested diving has begun to creep into the AFL, and wants players to have to pay for their actions.

โ€œThere is an influx of divers, youโ€™d think Greg Louganis is out there playing AFL at the moment,โ€ Brown said on Nova 100โ€™s Chrissie, Sam and Brownyย radio show on Monday morning.

โ€œWell, diving through blokes playing for free kicks and (this man) was one of the worst.

โ€œAlex 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.โ€

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.

โ€œThe boys are diving and I think there needs to be heavy fines given out to these guys staging for free kicks and diving,โ€ Brown said.

โ€œWe need to clean this up straight away, the divers have got to go.โ€