HAWTHORN coach Alastair Clarkson has apologised for his criticism of the standard of umpiring after Saturday's loss to Gold Coast at the MCG.

The 49-year-old labelled the umpiring as "disgraceful" during his post-match media conference when asked about a contentious decision that saw Hawks defender Kaiden Brand concede a 50m penalty for infringing on the protected zone.

Suns forward Ben Ainsworth took a solid mark in the forward pocket but missed his set shot.

However he was awarded a 50m penalty by umpire Simon Meredith after Brand encroached on the mark. 

The decision resulted in an Ainsworth goal from point-blank range and gave the Suns a handy 15-point lead with under seven minutes remaining in the game.

After the 16-point loss to the Suns, Clarkson would not be drawn on the penalty but he questioned some of the "dubious decisions" made.

"I'm not allowed to comment on disgraceful umpiring, so I'm better off not saying anything," Clarkson said with a laugh.

"I don't know what it [the Ainsworth 50m penalty] was for.

"We didn't lose the game because of the umpires this afternoon, but there were a few dubious decisions over the course of the game.

"You just need to take the swings and roundabouts, and unfortunately we hit a few roadblocks in that regard today."

Clarkson apologised for his remarks on Sunday afternoon.

"It was probably a poor choice of words. I went to the press conference with the full intention of trying to educate our members and the football public of where Hawthorn is at," Clarkson told Fox Footy.

"In no way was I trying to tarnish the umpiring or the AFL (but) I just got caught up in the emotion of a game.

"I apologise to the umps and also the AFL.

"I know my comments were out of whack, but I was actually trying to bow out of the conversation more so than tip into it, but if you use one word that was inappropriate, that'll cost me, I think."

The AFL is set to formally ask Clarkson to explain his post-match comments.