North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has launched a spirited defence of Lindsay Thomas, saying pundits are wrong to critique or question his head-high freekicks.
Thomas was awarded two set shots in the Kangaroos' 11-point win over Essendon on Friday night, prompting Bombers Jake Melksham and Brendon Goddard to remonstrate with the forward.
On both occasions, Thomas ducked and weaved while the tackler's arms slipped high.
Scott took offence when told some commentators questioned whether Thomas was playing in the spirit of the game.
"Anybody who wants to question Lindsay Thomas is kidding themselves and they should question the rulemakers and the umpires before they question any of our players," Scott said.
"There's no spirit. There's no asterisk that says 'this is the rule but we'd prefer you do this'.
"If the rule changes, we'll change.
"But it's not Lindsay's fault. He's playing to the rules."
The issue has simmered away in recent years, with Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson expressing his distaste over West Coast players ducking in 2012.
"They've been taking full advantage of it for a long period of time and we've either got to join them or get the rule changed," Clarkson said at the time.
Scott revealed he contacted the league's umpiring department for clarification after a handful of head-high calls went against the Kangaroos.
"We questioned the umpires and they made it crystal clear the way they're going to umpire it," he said.
"The way they're adjudicating it at the moment is exactly what they've told us.
"You see a lot of players in the competition that are expert in the technique."
There were a handful of controversial calls and non-calls during the match, with arguably the worst coming in the second term when Shaun McKernan was denied a mark deep in the Bombers' forward line.
"We all thought it was a mark ... those ones in front of goal really hurt you," Essendon coach James Hird said.
"I don't think I should comment."
Scott was somewhat more forthright.
"I'd rather they miss a few than call freekicks that are not there," he said.
Meanwhile, Scott was upbeat Ben Brown's knee injury was not too serious.
"It could be anything, but he feels really good and the knee is structurally sounds as far as we can tell without scanning it," he said.
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