THE AFL umpiring department concedes an error was made in one of several contentious decisions in St Kilda's loss to North Melbourne on Saturday night.
 
However, the free kick Saints ruckman Tom Hickey gave away, which Alan Richardson complained about after the match, was declared correct.
 
Speaking on AFL.com.au's Whistleblowers on Monday, umpire Troy Pannell said the decision against Luke Dunstan in the first quarter, when he appeared to make contact with Nick Dal Santo's thighs, was incorrect.
 
"It looks like Dunstan here has elected to bend down and take possession of the football. Is there contact below the knees? That's hard to see off that sort of vision," Pannell said.
 
"That could be above the knee, and near the thigh region as well. In that case, summing that up, we prefer a play on call."
 
In regards to the Hickey decision, which occurred in the third term, Richardson said free kicks awarded for contact made below the knees need to be revisited.
 
However, Pannell said it was adjudicated correctly.
 
"The first thing we're looking for is 'does the player elect to go to ground?'," Pannell said.
 
"Hickey does elect to go to ground in a reckless manner.
 
"We then see Jarrad Waite (with) both feet planted on the ground. Hickey's actions actually take Jarrad's legs from underneath him, forcefully and recklessly.
 
"Therefore, we deem that to be a free kick for contact below the knees."
 
The umpiring department planned to make contact with Richardson on Monday afternoon.
 
Another controversial call was made when Daniel Wells went to pick up the football and made contact with Jarryn Geary's legs in the second quarter. The St Kilda defender conceded the free.
 
"Because (Wells') head is down in the act of taking possession of the football, Jarryn actually has to be more aware of that," Pannell said.
 
"Because (Geary's) coming in at a little bit of force into Daniel's head, he would be awarded a free kick for too high."
 
If Geary had been stationary, Pannell said the correct decision would have been to call play on.

Pannell is out of action at the moment, after he broke his wrist in the opening moments of the round 17 clash between the Brisbane Lions and Greater Western Sydney.