St Kilda coach Alan Richardson has denied his team attempted to break the 6-6-6 rule during the crucial final passage of play against Fremantle.

Trailing by five points with only eight seconds remaining, the Saints pushed seven players into the attacking 50m arc.

They were warned by the umpires for breaching the new centre-bounce rules and forced to re-position themselves before the game restarted.

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Richardson said it was an error from the players.

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“We know there are umpires at either end and that’s their job to adjudicate,” he said.

“There was a period just before that where Fremantle put a player back to try and protect their lead.

“Our message to one of the defenders was to go down and basically play as a forward.

Camera Icon Alan Richardson’s Saints fell just short of Freo. Credit: Getty Images

“He just had a bit of a brain-fade and stayed there. He missed the fact you’ve got to re-set at the centre bounce.

“You won’t get away with it.

“There’s an umpire and that’s his job to look and make sure there are six of us and six of the opposition at both ends.

“You’ll never get away with it. It was just a blue by us.”