Ex-AFL umpire Ray 'Razor' Chamberlain has suggested Gold Coast star Matt Rowell is 'playing a dangerous game' with his positioning near umpires at stoppages.
Amid an AFL crackdown on player physical contact with umpires, Rowell - who has been fined four times for careless umpire contact - has said he won't change his approach to the game when around umpires.
This was visible during Gold Coast's win over Essendon last weekend, with Rowell still setting up at stoppages behind the umpires.
When asked by AFL 360 host Garyy if Rowell was playing a dangerous game, Chamberlain said on Fox Footy: "He is, and ultimately, he gets to make that choice."
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"I think, for the betterment of everybody out there, it’d be wonderful if he gave another metre, let the umpire get out of the road so he can get on and play the game."
Chamberlain continued: "More broadly, I think umpires can do more for the ball-winner, particularly in and around stoppage where they’re being held, etcetera.
"I don’t think anyone wants Matt Rowell to change who he is as a person and how he plays — he’s an incredible player.
"But I think what we do want to see from everybody is buy-in and collaboration to avoid avoidable contact."
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick was keen to shift the agenda from umpire contact to protection of his players during his press conference on Wednesday.
"It's also incumbent on the umpires to protect the ball players as well, so that's probably more the line of questioning we'll go down," Hardwick said.
"We also understand that Matt, and me in particular, have a duty of care to not run into the umpires. We've got to make sure we look after them.
"We've spoken this week about it a little bit."