Maxwell was initially suspended for four matches after laying a solid bump on West Coast’s Patrick McGinnity but was cleared on Friday after the Magpies appealed the decision.
The initial suspension was seen by many as an indication that the bump had been consigned to the past but Clarkson believes that was never going to be the case.
“The bump is still there irrespective of what was going to happen with the Nick Maxwell situation. It’s more to do with the head high contact,” Clarkson said.
“The bump will never be taken out of the game because of the legitimate bump to the side. You’re nearly allowed to do that with basketball which has less contact than AFL football.
“It’s more to do with the head-high contact, whether that is accidental or in the process of going through with the bump.”
Clarkson said he would seek clarification on the ruling with the AFL.
“We haven’t seen the results for how they came to the decision this morning. We’ll wait and see what comes out from the AFL. We’ll need some clarification from the AFL and the umpiring department as to how they’re going to adjudicate those types of decisions,” he said.
“It is a very grey and murky area at the moment and over the course of the next five or six days I’m sure it will become a little bit clearer how that’s going to be interpreted over the course of the year.”
