IT’S the pre-season for everyone — players, coaches and even new rules.

Controversy has emerged over the banning of the third man up rule following a series of free kicks given in bizarre circumstances over the weekend.

Ruck contests now must involve only the two nominated ruckmen with the tactic of a third player entering the contest now illegal thanks to an off-season rule change.

But as a consequence, both male and female players have found themselves giving up free kicks simply for being hit by an umpire’s throw-in.

Round 18

That’s because by touching the ball — even if it was accidental — they are ruled as the third man up.

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Adelaide Crows youngster Dean Gore was the victim of the rule change on Sunday against his former club Geelong.

“You can see both players looking at the ruckmen waiting to see where the tap is going to go, (they’re) nice and close,” Fox Footy commentator Brad Johnson explained.

“It hits Gore on the back and because it hit him on the full, Geelong gets a free kick. The ball has to touch the ground — if it doesn’t touch the ruckmen, no other player can touch the ball until it hits the ground.

“I don’t like it, I don’t like the look of that but that’s the rule we’ve got to deal with.”

Speaking after the match, Adelaide coach Don Pyke described the rule as “weird” and said he hoped it doesn’t have a game-changing impact during the home-and-away season.

“It’s one of the real weird ones of that rule — if the ball hits you as a midfielder, and you’re around the contest, it’s a free kick against,” Pyke said.

“If that led to a goal ... I’d hate to see that happen in a big game.

“It seems like one of those things which is a bit of an anomaly, if you like. He wasn’t trying to contest the ball - it was just that the ball hit him. Maybe it’s something they’ll look at. I’ll leave that with the umpires.”

But Gore wasn’t the first player this weekend to be surprised by the new rule. It popped up a number of times during the AFLW clash between the Western Bulldogs and Carlton.

Common sense surely has to prevail with the nominated ruckman rule. A farce at the moment when umpires botch the throw in#JLTSeries — Tom Chadwick (@TomChadwickFox) March 5, 2017

The Bulldogs were even awarded a free kick in front of goal late in the fourth quarter because of the change. Despite that, Dogs coach Paul Groves wasn’t happy.

“It’s frustrating as a coach,” Groves said.

“The one that’s probably got us, everyone a bit bemused, is the throw-in one, with no third man up.

“For us, surely it’s a reset and you go again if the throws bad, and there’s human error in everything, then just reset it, don’t pay a free kick to the girl it fell on.

“That will evolve, the AFL are no doubt having a look at it.

“(One decision) it was our girl Brooke Lachland and she actually ran away from (the ball) and it was the Carlton girl that just naturally tapped it and it’s a free kick in front of goal.

“The other one was in front of us on the bench and (the ball) fell on Emma Kearney, and all of a sudden it’s a free kick. There’s a frustration there with that.”