Magpies chief executive Gary Perth was quoted in the Sunday Herald Sun saying that the club was concerned about umpiring interpretations.
“All anyone is talking about is the umpiring,” Pert was quoted as saying. “We just need to understand the interpretations. We need explanations.”
The free kick count was 18-14 in favour of the Crows during the round one match. Collingwood was also on the wrong side of the free-kick count in all four of their NAB Cup games.
But AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson said the league wasn't concerned about the club's public outburst so early in the season.
"We get used to that. There's no doubt there were some errors made against both clubs in that game, and in every other game on the weekend," he said.
"The umpires go about professionally doing their job. I'm sure there were some errors they were disappointed with in that game against both sides, and they will be available to talk with both clubs, or any other club that wants to discuss the umpiring on the weekend."
Anderson said it was important for clubs, players and fans to understand that umpires were only human and could make mistakes.
"What does perturb you sometimes is when people think that every error is a change in interpretation," he said.
"The fact is, umpires make several errors each week - about 14 per cent of their decisions are errors.
"They said on the DVD at the start of the year exactly how they want to interpret the rules, and they will stick to that standard throughout the year."
On the specific Collingwood-Adelaide match, Anderson said the officiating of the game had not determined the result.
"Most people who watched that game would realise that it was a good contest between two sides and it wasn't the umpiring that affected the result in the end."
