MELBOURNE coach Dean Bailey says his club is yet to contact the AFL umpires department to seek clarification over incidents relating to his team’s 19-point loss against Hawthorn on Sunday.

Bailey played down the umpiring furore but said the Demons were still reviewing “a few instances” from Sunday’s clash at the MCG.

After Sunday’s loss, the first-year coach was upset with one incident in particular in which Aaron Davey was penalised for a final-quarter tackle in front of the Melbourne goal.

Had Davey been rewarded for his tackle on Hawk Jarryd Morton, he would have had a shot at goal from directly in front and possibly reduced the margin to just six points.

But Bailey said that was one of a few incidents from the match in which coaches of both sides could raise their eyebrows.

“We’re still looking at a few of the instances … and there were a few tackles that Hawthorn laid at the weekend that when you go through the tape they could certainly have been rewarded and I still think that there’s a couple that we needed too,” he said.

“So we’ll certainly have a chat to them [the umpires department] over the phone but it’s nothing. It’s not a major issue.”

Bailey acknowledged AFL umpires had a tough job officiating today’s high-paced, hard-tackling game and said, that most of the time this season, he believed “they’ve been pretty good”.

However he said umpires had it toughest with decisions such as Davey’s, when players were carried forward in a tackle.

“I think it’s a difficult one for the umpires to adjudicate on because if you tackle someone from behind and the ball drops, is that the free kick or is it the following momentum of the player tackling?” he said.

“You know it’s not just our game but through the other games on the weekend.

“It’s a tough one (decision) for them to make, so they can only pay what they see. You get the good with the bad and you just accept it and you move on.”

Bailey said “the guy with the football should always be protected” however prior opportunity made decisions even cloudier for the whistle blowers.

“I suppose the greyness comes [with] prior opportunity,” he said.

“It’s a very quick decision for the umpire to have already adjudicated.

“[The umpire has to think] ‘He’s had prior and now I can pay the free kick’ … it’s a tough one and players are getting better at tackling, they’re getting better at where they fall after the tackle as well.”