A war of words has erupted between Richmond and Collingwood over the motives behind Saturday's melees at the MCG, which is set to reap the AFL almost $26,000 in fines from 20 players.

Ten Tigers and 10 Magpies were on Monday reported for engaging in a melee, after several spot fires broke out inside two minutes after Richmond's Jake King clashed with Collingwood's Alan Didak off the ball.

King was reported for striking Didak and was on Monday hit with a three-game suspension, which means his season is over unless he successfully challenges the match review panel's verdict at the tribunal on Tuesday night.

While there was plenty of feeling in the melees, the hostility continued well after the game, as Collingwood captain Nick Maxwell accused the Tigers of being more interested in physical confrontations than the football.

"That's the way they decided to go, but I thought it was pretty average considering we couldn't fight back and considering they weren't prepared, a few of their blokes, to put their head over the ball when it counted," Maxwell told the Seven Network on Sunday.

Maxwell's remarks hit a nerve with Richmond, as sidelined star Matthew Richardson and Tigers captain Chris Newman both said they were disappointed with his comments.

Richardson said Maxwell's comments were unnecessary, while Newman said the remarks would not be forgotten by Richmond in the lead-up to when the sides played in 2010.

"Definitely not," Newman said on the Ten Network's HD station.

"They're obviously winning a few more games than what we are, but I wouldn't hear (Essendon captain) Matthew Lloyd say anything like that, or (Carlton skipper) Chris Judd.

"They've (Carlton) been winning a few games, but I haven't heard him (Judd) come out and slam the opposition like that, so it's disappointing."

Maxwell said on Sunday it would be unfair if the Collingwood players were fined because they were trying to break up something Richmond instigated.

But that plea fell on deaf ears, as Maxwell was one of the Magpies cited.

Collingwood star Dane Swan was fined $4,000 because he is a repeat offender in melees, but can reduce that to $3,000 with a guilty plea. He remains eligible to Brownlow Medal.

The other 19 players involved were fined $1,600 and can reduce the penalties to $1,200 with guilty pleas.

King was among the Richmond players booked for engaging in a melee, along with Luke McGuane, Tom Hislop, Robin Nahas, Brett Deledio, Angus Graham, Richard Tambling, Will Thursfield, Mark Coughlan and Daniel Jackson.

Hislop was suspended for two games for striking Shane O'Bree in the last quarter, but can reduce that to one game with a guilty plea.

The other Collingwood players reported were O'Bree, Dayne Beams, Chris Dawes, Heath Shaw, Harry O'Brien, Leigh Brown, Alan Toovey and Tarkyn Lockyer.

Apart from the fines, Collingwood were cleared of any judiciary worries a fortnight out from the finals, as Didak and Travis Cloke were both cleared of any wrongdoing in separate incidents from the melees.

Didak was cleared of a bump on Coughlan because he made contact to the Tiger's back and not his head, while Cloke escaped sanction despite McGuane initially claiming he was bitten on a finger.

The panel investigated the Cloke-McGuane incident, but did not take any action after interviewing McGuane and finding the video evidence inconclusive.

If the 20 players hit with melee fines plead guilty, they will be docked a total of $25,800.

The only other report laid from round 20 was against Geelong's Steve Johnson, who can escape with a reprimand for striking Sydney's Craig Bolton at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.

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