After being shown video footage clearly capturing his interaction with a West Coast fan late in the fourth quarter of the match, the Hawks' forward is believed to have told his club he could not be sure that the vision depicted the offender.

Hawthorn received several calls yesterday from fans claiming to have heard the racial taunts at Aurora Stadium in Launceston - Franklin was allegedly called a black c… by a spectator - and club chief executive Stuart Fox said it was intent on identifying the culprit.

Aurora Stadium management said it was reviewing CCTV footage from the fourth quarter and that - if identified - the culprit faced a fine of up to $1000.

The AFL, while decrying racism, said it would await further information from Franklin in order to pursue the case. But in his meeting with Hawthorn officials, it's understood Franklin indicated he did not want to be involved further in the matter.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said the person responsible should be ''big enough'' to come forward and apologise to Franklin and others in the crowd who had heard the abuse.

Franklin, who did not lodge a complaint with a Hawthorn official on match-day, met with the club's chief executive and football manager yesterday morning to discuss his recollections of events.

His grievance only surfaced after a teammate became aware of the racial vilification Franklin was subjected to during the match.

By Monday, the AFL Players Association's Indigenous and Multicultural manager, Nadia Taib, was counselling Franklin over the episode, and Hawthorn's hierarchy became involved.

''He was disappointed. [But] he has certainly moved on now,'' Fox said yesterday.

''My chat with him this morning [indicated] he wanted to move on, he wanted his feelings known, but he was just shocked.

''It's sort of like we've made some big inroads into this issue over many years and it just feels like it had a little backwards step on the weekend.''

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the league was in the process of trying to identify the culprit and it would appreciate leads from the public.

''We have match vision of the person we assume it to be,'' he said.

''We think we have vision [of the taunting], but that ultimately has to be confirmed by Lance … the most important thing is when Lance said it happened.''

Keane said the AFL would take advice from Hawthorn on Franklin's recollection of events, and added that the league hoped the matter would be resolved quickly.

Though reluctant to speculate about sanctions if the culprit was identified, Keane said: ''The AFL can revoke a person's membership but there's obviously areas beyond the AFL that can apply, but that's not a decision for the AFL.''

Robert Dobrzynski, the general manager of Launceston City Council, which runs Aurora Stadium, said the venue was going to install more CCTV cameras in light of the incident.

While stressing the Franklin case was ''isolated'', Dobrzynski said the venue would aim to run scoreboard announcements denouncing disorderly behaviour and racial abuse when the venue next hosts an AFL match, in round 13.

Under Aurora Stadium bylaws, any patron found to be acting in a disorderly fashion can be ejected from an event and fined up to $1000.

While Michael Long instigated profound change in relation to on-field racism after speaking out over his vilification by former Magpie Damian Monkhorst during the Anzac Day clash in 1995, taunting beyond the boundary is harder to police.

"It should go without saying that there is absolutely no place for racism in our game and the community,'' Demetriou said yesterday.

''The AFL's Racial and Religious Vilification code has placed a significant role in changing attitudes on and off the field, but unfortunately there is still the occasional person out there who doesn't get it.

"Fortunately these types of incidents are rare in the modern game, but anybody who does engage in this sort of unacceptable and anti-social behaviour can expect to be dealt with harshly.

''This would involve being ejected from the ground, having their membership revoked and also being subjected to equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws.''