St Kilda coach Brett Ratten is concerned by the new holding the ball interpretation.
The umpires have adjudicated a stricter interpretation of the rule since Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson demanded the tackler be rewarded after his side laid 69 tackles without a free kick in Round 4 against North Melbourne.
48 free kicks were given during the Saints’ 23-point win over Adelaide on Monday night - their first victory over the Crows since 2011 and first-ever at Adelaide Oval, and Ratten warned that players who are first to the ball must be protected.
“Sometimes it’d be pretty hard to be a ball player and try and put your hands on it,” Ratten told reporters post-game.
"We have to be careful that we haven’t got players just sitting there waiting to tackle players. That’s not how we want to play the game.
"It’s a fine line and you’ve got to be given some sort of chance to get rid of it.
“We’ll just leave that to the umpires though. If it gets a bit tougher and they’re hotter on it, we’ll try and adjust as quickly as we can.”
St Kilda sit in sixth spot after their fourth victory of the season over the Crows ahead of Saturday night’s clash against top of table Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval.