THE AFL denies it has directed umpires to 'put the whistle away' during the finals.

The response comes after Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson questioned why his side received only three holding the ball free kicks despite laying 104 tackles in the semi-final loss to the Western Bulldogs.

Umpires head coach Hayden Kennedy said he had instructed his charges to pay free kicks if they were there.

Hawthorn's 1084 days at the top

"All our coaching has been the same. If you see a free kick you need to pay a free kick," Kennedy told AFL.com.au's Whistleblowers program.

"The umpires will continue to umpire to the letter of the law, which is if a player has prior opportunity, he must successfully kick or handball.

"Or if he doesn't have prior opportunity he must at least attempt to kick or handball and that's what has occurred through the finals series as well as this season.

"The last thing we want our umpires to do is to try and decide which free kicks to pay.

"If we do that we'll get ourselves into trouble."

Kennedy reviewed several other issues from both semi-finals on Whistleblowers including