'100 free kicks': Fears over Hardwick's umpire call

AFL great Paul Roos has warned that there could be "100 free kicks a game" if prior opportunity is discarded in holding-the-ball situations, as suggested by Damien Hardwick.

Hardwick has joined a number of coaches and players who have suggested that the prior opportunity clause has caused too much confusion among players and umpires.

Hardwick's comments came after a weekend filled with controversy surrounding holding-the-ball calls, led by St Kilda coach Brett Ratten questioning if it was "worth tackling" due to tacklers not being rewarded often enough.

While, the three-time Tigers premiership coach believed that getting rid of prior opportunity would ease congestion, Roos feared that it could go the other way.

"I just don't understand that philosophy," he told Nine's Footy Classified.

"Obviously Damien is a fantastic coach, but I'm trying to picture in my mind how he's seeing the game because we teach the players from under-9s to go and win the football.

"What we see at the moment is the pressure is so immediate, if you don't have prior opportunity, there would be 100 free kicks a game. I don't know how you can get rid of the ball if you don't have time.

"I understand what he's talking about conceptually, but the pressure is so immediate I can see players just standing back and that's where players are smart."

Roos' point was echoed by former AFL coach Ross Lyon, who suggested that Hardwick's point was self-serving given Richmond's elite status as a pressure team.

"The Tigers are the best pressure team in the comp, so if you're Damien you want no prior because they're going to stick them before anyone else," he told Footy Classified.

"When you coach an AFL team and you make a point saying we need to do whatever it is, they'll go over the top on it and it'll be emphasized and they'll run with it.

The coaches' department make a point and then the umpires are like the players, they over-emphasize it, so I think we'll see a natural regression back to the mean and it'll be balanced out."

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