GWS coach Adam Kingsley has questioned why Brent Daniels was forced to undergo a concussion test late in the Giants' heartbreaking preliminary-final defeat.
The Giants' small forward was on the end of a fierce tackle from Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos with 13 minutes left in the last quarter of Friday night's thriller at the MCG.
Daniels' arms appeared to be pinned and his head made contact with the turf.
The 24-year-old remained on the field after the tackle but was pulled to the bench with about six minutes to go for a head injury assessment (HIA).
Players are required to remain off the ground for at least 15 minutes even if they pass the HIA.
Kingsley was perplexed by why Daniels needed to come to the bench several minutes after being tackled by Daicos.
The first-year Giants coach said he was certain the club would follow the incident up with the AFL.
"I'm really disappointed to lose Brent Daniels for an HIA, that he passed comfortably in the last (six) minutes of the game, which hurt us around the ball with a bit of leg speed, a bit of overlap run, so that's extremely disappointing," Kingsley said.
"I haven't seen the incident but from what I'm led to believe it didn't warrant having to take him off the field to assess him."
Daicos was not cited over the tackle by the match review officer, who laid no charges out of the match and did not feel any incidents required a detailed explanation.
A concussion spotter in the AFL's review centre alerted the Giants to the incident, saying it might need to be looked at further.
GWS's doctor ultimately acted on the advice from the spotter and made the call to take Daniels off the ground for a concussion test.
An AFL spokesperson told AAP spotters don't have authority to overrule club doctors and make players undergo an assessment.
The spotters are there to assist club doctors in noticing potential head trauma, not to make the final call on whether a player should be taken off for a test.
The heartbreaking one-point defeat - 8.10 (58) to 8.9 (57) - ended the Giants' extraordinary climax to the season as they fell just short of making the showpiece match after starting the finals series from seventh.
GWS sat 14th after round 15 but stormed home to not only make the finals but win sudden-death matches at the MCG and Adelaide Oval.
"There was a bit of adversity that we had to overcome to compete," Kingsley said.
"I just reiterated how proud I was of their fight, their ability to hang in there.
"We're off the back of a six-day break, travelling back from Port Adelaide, it felt like we were slow out of the blocks against Collingwood but then we were able to fight back and get our noses in front.
"I couldn't be prouder of the way that they carried themselves."
