Deliberate rushed behinds were brought into sharp focus in the 2008 Toyota AFL Grand Final, when Hawthorn forced 11 of them.
The issue was one of several raised when the AFL Coaches Association met with the AFL at Telstra Dome on Monday.
A survey of coaches found there was concern over deliberate rushed behinds, but there was no push to change the historic scoring system of Australian football to punish offending teams.
AFLCA CEO Neale Daniher said coaches also believed the introduction of new interchange rules had proved successful, though they called for the penalty of a free kick and 50m for a breach of the law to be reviewed.
He said the AFL had acknowledged concerns raised by some coaches about doubling the number of boundary umpires to four late in the season and the impact coaches felt that had on team selection.
Boundary throw-ins were markedly quicker with four boundary umpires, and ruckmen frequently were unable to be in place for the throw-in contest.
The coaches also supported a return to the traditional format of all teams playing each other once in the first 15 rounds.
And they argued that the umpires' interpretation of chopping arms in marking contests was too severe, and said infringements against midfielders at stoppages were not always detected "in comparison with forwards who seemed to get frees much easier", Daniher said.
All 16 clubs attended the meeting, while the AFL was represented by general manager of football operations Adrian Anderson, umpires director Jeff Gieschen and AFL Match Review Panel chairman and game analysis manager Andrew McKay.
“The AFLCA has established a strong and effective working relationship with the AFL and the greater role of coaches – as well as the input from clubs – was another example of the AFL and the AFLCA coming together as part of the Laws of the Game process,” Daniher said.
“We understand we are not the lawmakers but believe we should have a direct voice in the process, which we have done this year.”
