Sydney coach Paul Roos says the AFL's insistence on constant rule changes has filtered down to cause untold confusion in junior football.

A longtime critic of the myriad of tweaks made to the game over the past decade, Roos said the confusion felt by players, coaches and supporters was widely known.

But he now believed problems were seeping into junior football and threatening the enjoyment - not to mention natural development - of future generations.

Following his exit from senior coaching at the Swans, Roos will helm the club's academy, making the junior game his priority.

"My frustration goes down to junior footy now," Roos told AAP.

"I see hands in the back (rule) in under 12s, 13s, 14s and you see parents on the sidelines ... the kids look around confused.

"They're just clumsy, they happen to put a hand in the back, they don't even know how to go for a mark, and the umpire's paid a hands in the back free kick.

"Kids don't even know what the free kick's for, so it's actually going down to junior footy levels, which is even more frustrating for parents, kids and umpires as well."

As he approached the end of a widely-lauded stint as coach of the Swans, Roos described constant rule changes as his "one area of frustration" with the game.

He also argued that the AFL's laws of the game committee may have felt pressure to pass changes in order "to be seen to be doing something" with their influential position.

"My view on the rules committee is probably very different to what the AFL views it as, I think it'd be nice to put the cue in the rack for the rules committee for a while and have a bit of a spell," Roos said.

"Sometimes when you're there to do a job you feel like you have to do a job to be seen to be doing something."

The latest round of adjustments to football surround the regulation of the interchange, and Roos' concerns have been reflected in other clubs noting that they would change the types of players to be recruited.

Roos also spared a thought for the umpires, saying they were caught up as much in the confusion as everyone else.

"Every year there just seems to be changes," he said.

"The game's changing, the players are confused at the rules, holding the ball, dropping the ball, prior opportunity, the hands in the back, chopping the arms.

"I think you've got a playing group who are very confused, commentators who are consistently confused, you've got fans who are confused.

"I think if you're looking at a barometer for rules, the fact that everyone's confused can't be a good reflection on where the game's ended up.

"It is a very confusing game to watch, and I can only imagine how difficult it is to umpire, and I've said that for the last five years, it has got to be the hardest game to umpire.

"If you umpired to the letter of the law there'd be 100 free kicks a game, the way they've changed the rules."

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