“What I’m dreading is that umpiring this weekend, or in a few weeks time, players and spectators are going to start demanding I pay a 50-metre penalty because somebody has their arms out,” Clarke told 3AW.

“That is an unfair expectation on us and it will actually lead to more abuse, it doesn’t reduce it.

“I think the cure is worse than the disease.”

Clarke said he would “never” pay a 50-metre penalty if a player flung out their arms following one of his umpiring decisions.

Scott was adamant about the need for the crackdown, saying AFL was concerned that community umpire numbers had dwindled by about 6000 this year.

Cameron maintained it was up to AFL players to set the standard by keeping a rein on their emotions. “It’s extremely hard (to show no emotion), but there’s a reason why we’re doing that, to understand that it’s not just about AFL level, it’s about the lower levels underneath,” he said.

“We need umpires feeling as safe as they possibly can out on the ground, and also as valued as much as they possibly can (be). Because at the end of the day, the game can’t be played without players and the game can’t be played without umpires. We have to work hand in hand.”

Echoing Cameron, Pendlebury brought the issue back to junior umpiring.

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“We’re so many umpires short at the grassroots level, and we want a lot of these young kids to come up that don’t want to play footy to umpire games of football,” he said.

“At some point we’ve got to realise it’s bigger than what happens out here. It’s what happens at the lower levels as well. We want umpires umpiring this great game, otherwise it’s not going to be as good as it could be in 20, 30 years’ time.”

Essendon captain Dyson Heppell saw eye-to-eye with the Magpies captain.

“It’s really important. The message that we convey on the ground as well and the respect that we have for the umpires, because they do do an amazing job,” Heppell said.

“We do need grassroots footy continuing and young kids wanting to umpire games and feeling like they are respected.”