THE AFL Umpires department has conceded it should have rewarded a tackle by Richmond's Shane Edwards during the tense final quarter of Sunday's elimination final against North Melbourne.

With 7.26 left on the clock, Edwards laid a perfect tackle on Kangaroo Ben Cunnington, who disposed of the ball incorrectly after having prior opportunity.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick labeled the non-decision 'diabolical' after his team went down by 17 points.

"Yes it is (holding the ball)," head of AFL umpires Hayden Kennedy told AFL.com.au's Whistleblowers program on Tuesday.

"Brett (Rosebury) wasn't in the perfect position with the players in front of him to make that call.

"Our umpires have a lot players to look through (and) we encourage them not to guess.

"We would have loved for it to be paid by the umpire in the next zone and he didn't have a good opportunity to see through the players as well."

"We understand when there are players in the way we are going to make errors."

With the AFL looking to introduce a fourth umpire in 2016, Kennedy said an extra pair of eyes wouldn't have achieved the right outcome in this instance.

Premiership Magpie Luke Ball doesn't agree with the belief that the non-decision "cost" Richmond the match.

"To the letter of the law it should have been paid," Ball said.

"It would have been pretty red hot on Cunnington who didn't have a heap of prior opportunity.

"I think it's a pretty tenuous link to say it cost the Tigers the game."



Cunnington himself admitted to feeling an immediate sense of relief when there was no whistle blown.



"I was a bit relieved (it was play on) because it definitely would have been a shot on goal," the Kangaroos midfielder said on Tuesday.



Another issue arising from Sunday's game was the time-honoured bounce after umpire Scott Jeffery had to recall his bounce at the start of the game.

Many believe the skill puts undue pressure on umpires and the recall was a disappointing opening to a game attended by over 90,000 spectators.

While Kennedy didn't back the bounce, he said his charges were doing a good job under "pressure".

"We'll be guided by the rules and as a umpiring department we don't make the rules," Kennedy said.

"(Scott's) bounced 202 times and he's had seven recalls, which is sensational going.

"Our best is going at around 90%, 90 out of 100 bounces is going up straight.

"The guys know the importance of the bounce, purely for the aesthetics and making sure we try and get an unbiased jump at the ball each and every time."