Was it a push in the back? The friendly Indian gentleman behind the counter of the newspaper shop at Tullamarine was keen to hear an opinion as the footy caravan headed for Sydney on Sunday morning. I was well equipped to give one. I was headed for the departure gate with Leigh Matthews and we were on that very subject as I diverted to the newsagency.

Leigh had just been musing that different people see the game quite differently, that some were insistent Cameron Mooney shouldn't have been penalised. Leigh saw it as a push in the back; so did I. As I paid for the Sunday papers, I told my questioner that no less authority than Lethal Leigh Matthews - who had been known as a reasonably hard footballer - thought it was, and that I agreed. I don't think he was convinced.

While I'm in no doubt about umpire Matt Stevic's judgement, I'm not so sure that this controversy was just about different perceptions of the physical forces involved in one tackling decision. I think it's also about the interpretational line drawn by umpires and their coaches, and I suspect this aspect has been subject to some correction during the course of the current season. If that's the case, it's little wonder people are split in their view.

One of the great changes to have occurred in the game over the last 10 years or so is what's become known as the run-down tackle. It's not that players didn't chase and bring their opponents down in earlier times; they just knew they had to avoid taking the ball-carrier forward. If they did, and if there was any doubt about the legitimacy of the tackle applied, they would be penalised for a push-in-the-back. That all changed 10 or so years ago.

As tackling and defensive pressure have been emphasised like never before by modern coaches, there has grown a new level of bloodlust from fans for "baaaall"! Umpires, and those who instruct them, have been inclined to accommodate the tackler and the fan. I believe there's been a steady loosening of the interpretation as to what constitutes a punishable push-in-the-back.

So accepted has this become that when radio talkback callers complain about the holding-the-ball interpretation, you can bet your boots they're unhappy the tackler has been given a raw deal. They've become so used to holding-the-ball being paid that they're inflamed when it's not. I would suggest that more often than not over recent years, a tackle like Mooney's would have been given the all-clear.

There are two problems with this: first, the philosophy of giving the benefit of any doubt to the tackler flies in the face of what the game has historically been about, and second, this isn't the colosseum and umpiring decisions shouldn't be dictated by what the baying crowd wants.

It's interesting to observe that Leigh Matthews was this year appointed to the AFL Laws of the Game Committee. Here at last was a voice to take on the pro-tackler mentality that has for too long been in the ascendancy. Matthews has been at the cutting edge for more than 40 years. He ranks among the top half dozen most successful participants in the game's history and was a notably physical player. This year, in his role as a Channel 7 commentator, he has been heard to say things like: "If it's a choice between in-the-back and holding-the-ball, I think the free should be paid to the ball player."

At last!!! I was interested to hear this week that former Geelong premiership heroes, Fred Wooller and Tom Harley, both still Cats to their bootstraps, agreed with umpire Stevic's decision. They've both been around long enough to know the history and philosophy of the game haven't been totally established in the last few years. Mark Thompson eventually took the view that it probably was a push-in-the-back but that the paying of a free-kick was inconsistent with what has gone before.

The problem for the umpiring department is that they now have to shift a good 10 years of dereliction of duty to try and rectify the problem. The fact that what was a clear free-kick has generated such controversy, tells me the public doesn't know what to expect from such incidents anymore. Perhaps we should rule off and start again. With Lethal Leigh as chief arbiter.