HAWTHORN dasher Isaac Smith has emphatically backed the AFL's much-discussed deliberate rushed behind rule after Richmond's Jayden Short was penalised on Saturday night.

The League announced late last year that umpires would be stricter on the rule in the 2017 season and players, coaches and spectators alike appear to still be adjusting.

The free kick against Short came after he won a foot race to the goal square against Essendon's Josh Green then elected to slide with the ball across the line.

Green had given up on the chase and was a few metres behind.

Tigers coach Damien Hardwick was adamant the umpire in question "made a mistake", but Smith had a different take.

"I'm not sure if I'm speaking out of school here, but I like the rushed behind rule and I think it's good for the game and the spectators if the ball is kept in," Smith told reporters on Monday.

"We've been told if you've got clear air behind you, then don't rush the ball behind.

"It's actually a little bit of a bugbear of mine – I'm sick of the commentators and everyone speaking about it.

"I think, 'Keep the ball in as much as you can, if you're not under too much pressure'."

Smith said he and his teammates were clear on the rule's interpretation, but joked his comments may come back to haunt him against Port Adelaide on Thursday night.

"I feel like the karma bus is going to come around now and I'll probably rush one on the weekend and I'll be in a bit of strife," he said.

"But I think if you're not getting tackled or there's not a hand on you, I think the feeling in our playing group is that you've got to keep it in."

Umpires' boss Peter Schwab spoke on SEN radio in January about the new interpretation of the rule and asked for patience.

"It comes back to the whole definition of clear prior opportunity," Schwab said at the time.

"So if a player is perceived to have had clear prior opportunity to rid himself of the ball or dispose of the ball to someone else and elects not to take it and then just goes through the goal line, then they're going to find you'll be penalised.

"It will take some time and adjustment, like any interpretation. But, initially, I think you'll find it'll be harsher or stricter.

"It'll be obvious to people watching the game that there's been a change."