Every weekend AFL fans yell out "ball!" to try to convince the umpire to pay a free kick to their team, but Sydney coach Paul Roos says he never knows which way the decision is going to go.

Roos said on Thursday the AFL needed to spend the post-season reviewing the rule and shedding some light on what players can expect in certain situations, because at the moment they just don't know.

"When your most experienced player comes up to you and asks you to clarify the holding-the-ball rule with the umpires, it's a reasonable indication the players are confused," Roos told reporters at the SCG on Thursday ahead of Sydney's clash with Collingwood at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

"We haven't had a chance (this week) to speak to the umpires. It's something that needs to be sorted out post-season.

"I don't think it's going to change between now and the end of the year."

Roos says he senses rival coaches such as Adelaide's Neil Craig and other key figures within the game are thinking along the same lines.

"It certainly seems like there's a bit more of a groundswell for (let's) tidy it up," Roos said.

"The fans are confused, certainly the players are confused, the coaches are confused, so something certainly needs to be done about it."

Roos, Sydney's 2005 premiership coach who is stepping down from the role at the end of the 2010 season, says he struggles to make sense of decisions even at junior level.

"Sometimes it's holding the ball, sometimes it's a ball up, so just the whole area seems, I couldn't tell you what the rule is," Roos continued.

"I just don't think anyone in the industry is really clear on what the rule is.

"I don't even know what the rule is when I watch junior footy now."

Sydney co-captain Brett Kirk said on Thursday he was equally puzzled.

"I guess there has been a fair bit of talk about it," he said.

"Hopefully we'll get a fair bit more consistency out of it and we'll know exactly where it sits."

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