Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse has called for increased scrutiny on timekeepers after accusing officials of failing to do their job in Saturday night's AFL match in Sydney.

The two-time premiership mentor was seething at the post-match press conference following the Magpies' 11.11 (77) to 10.16 (76) loss to the Swans at Telstra Stadium.

Malthouse said timekeepers had allowed the clock to wind down despite the umpire motioning time on - a signal to stop the clock - with about 20 seconds remaining and Sydney's Amon Buchanan having marked the ball in his side's defensive pocket.

Buchanan faked an injury, slowly walked back from his mark and the siren sounded before he was forced to play on.

However Malthouse backtracked from his suggestion there could have been an element of hometown bias in the timekeepers allowing the match to end prematurely.

"You can't do anything probably (about it)," Malthouse told Channel Seven.

"What can happen out of this is to say `are we really checking the timekeepers?'."

An AFL spokesman said that timekeepers were independent of clubs and appointed by the league.

"It has been raised as an issue out of last night's match that will be something for our footy operations department to look at tomorrow morning," the spokesman said.

The result effectively ended the Magpies' finals aspirations as they slipped to a 4-9 record for the season. But Malthouse would not blame the timekeeping error for the defeat.

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