Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has blamed the rules rather than players and coaches for the "handball-happy" football that has plagued the NAB Cup pre-season competition this year.

The spate of handballs during pre-season matches has attracted the ire of commentators and spectators alike, the vast majority accusing players of overusing the football.

The Hawks and Melbourne shared more than 300 handballs in their first round match last week, with Hawthorn having another 173 handballs in their seven-point quarter-final loss to Carlton in Launceston on Saturday night.

But Clarkson said the experimental rule used in the NAB Cup where players must kick the ball 20 metres rather than 15 for a mark to be paid was causing any overuse of the football, not any conscious decision by coaches or players.

Clarkson said he had no problem with the rule being trialled in the pre-season, but critics needed to understand why so many handballs were happening rather than simply blame the clubs.

"Both sides overused it (last night), but it's the interpretation of this 20-metre rule," Clarkson said.

"I think it's the 25-metre rule at the moment - they're calling play-on on 25-metre kicks.

"It makes it tough because as soon as it happens it creates three handballs right there and then to break free of the man on the mark.

"It makes it a circus, a merry-go-round of handballs.

"Every team in the NAB Cup is still coming to terms with the 20-metre kick and the play-on.

"It's creating a circus of handballs, which is making it harder to get a free-flowing game going."

Despite his team's 1.9.12 (75) to 2.7.8 (68) loss in a thrilling NAB Cup quarter-final at Aurora Stadium, Clarkson is pleased with how his side has performed in the pre-season without more than half a dozen regular players.

Skipper Richie Vandenberg, Ben Dixon, Trent Croad and Joel Smith are among those yet to make an appearance this season, with Clarkson promising they will be fed into the team over the next fortnight.

"The eight regulars we've got missing, every one of them will be back for round one.

"We've been really pleased with our pre-season. We've given exposure to our young lads, we've tailored our older guys to have a more steady build-up.

"We're looking forward to the next three or four weeks to build into a pretty important game in round one against Brisbane."

Several head-high incidents out of Saturday night's game could attract the scrutiny of the match review panel on Sunday, most notably Carlton's Jarrad Waite collecting Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell around the neck in the second quarter.

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