Richmond coach Terry Wallace has admitted it might be time the rushed-behind rule is changed, even though it kept his side alive in the race for the AFL finals.

Wallace on Tuesday praised defender Joel Bowden for staying cool under pressure in rushing two behinds to soak up precious seconds and help Richmond beat Essendon by four points last Saturday, which kept the Tigers within reach of the top eight.

Bowden's tactics have been a major talking point this week and on Tuesday drew commendation from Wallace and three other coaches, Essendon's Matthew Knights, St Kilda's Ross Lyon and Port Adelaide's Mark Williams.

But some have argued that the time-slowing play was outside the spirit of the game.

His ploy was even likened to Trevor Chappell's infamous under-arm delivery in 1981.

Wallace was disappointed with that comparison, but has admitted that like the episode which prompted change to cricket's laws, the AFL's law-makers should consider changing the rule which gives the side that concedes a rushed behind possession of the ball.

"It's probably warranted that it gets spoken about at the rules (of the game committee) level and that they have a look at different scenarios," he said.

Proposed changes to deter sides from conceding behinds include allocating three points to a rushed behind, giving the other side a shot at goal from 25 metres, and bouncing the ball at the top of the goal square.

Wallace advocated another option, introducing a rule similar to the one in basketball, where the clock does not restart until the ball is in possession.

"Mine would be don't (restart) play until the ball has actually been touched in play, so there's no ability to time waste at all," he said.

But Wallace was adamant players were allowed to push the rules that were in place, as Bowden would have been pilloried had his decision cost his side victory.

"Do you pull the trigger and make a horrible mistake or do you hold on to the ball and have the patience to be able to set up again?" he said.

Knights said he expected his former teammate to keep his composure, but dismissed suggestions his players could have adopted a basketball tactic and conceded a deliberate free kick in an attempt to get the ball back into play.

"There's been talk of giving away an intentional free kick. I'm not sure whether we want to go that way in our game," he said.

"... I don't know whether deliberate off-the-ball incidents is what we're about."

Knights said if the rule was changed, he would support rushed behinds being worth more than one point.

Deliberately rushed behinds are worth three points in the pre-season competition.

Williams was against changing the rule, but in a column published on the AFL website, said he also supported the decision made by Greg Chappell to instruct his brother to bowl under-arm to deny New Zealand a chance of victory.

"Some people will think poorly of me for saying that, but that's my view. The rules are there; use them," he said.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP