Melbourne president Jim Stynes has called Hawthorn counterpart Jeff Kennett out of line for his criticism of the AFL umpires.

Stynes has also said he would have taken the option of meeting with the umpires department, saying all club presidents could learn something from the exercise.

The AFL gave Kennett the option of paying a $5000 fine or attending umpires school after deciding to punish him for comments he made earlier this month.

Kennett decided to pay the fine and remains critical of the league over its handling of the episode.

Asked on Triple M radio if Kennett was out of line for his original comments, Stynes replied "I believe he was."

"In order to develop our game and make it the best it can possibly be ... the men in white have got to be a no-go zone," Stynes said.

"It is a really tough gig.

"I get as frustrated as anyone else does in the crowd and I scream and shout at them, (but) it is a really difficult job to do.

"If we want to attract great people to do that job, that we all find frustrating, then we've got to look after them."

Stynes said club presidents could do worse than learning more about the difficulties that umpires face.

"I understand he wants free speech and all that stuff, that's really important, but I don't think it would do him any harm to go in and sit with the umpires, get to know them, get to know how tough that job really is," he said.

"It wouldn't do me any harm - it wouldn't do any president any harm.

"I don't need Jeff Kennett as an enemy, because he's one of the smartest people going around in footy.

"But ... we have a position of privilege and we need to respect that - sometimes we need people to remind us."

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