AFL Daily: Live rolling footy news from around Australia for March 28

Brad Scott has warned his players not to punch opponents but says umpires have an almost impossible job enforcing a crackdown when players are going down 'like they have been hit by a Mack truck when there was very minimal contact'. RECAP TODAY'S AFL NEWS

North Melbourne coach Brad Scott has issued a fresh warning to his team against punching to an opponent's body, but says umpiring is being made more difficult by an an increase in staging.

"I have spoken to all our players, not only this week, but across the board," he said. "There has got to be a fine balance, because what you find is that there is always a reaction.

"I thought across Round 1 a number of players went down like they had been hit by a Mack truck when there was very minimal contact.

"It puts the umpires in a really difficult position where they had been told to pay free kicks for any strikes off the ball, but there are a number of players go down like falling leaves.

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"When you are a forward 50 stoppages and you feel contact, if players continually get rewarded with a shot at goal for minimal contact, then they are going to keep doing it. It all adds up making umpires' jobs really, really difficult.

"Our end of the bargain is simple, don't punch anyone."

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Originally published as AFL Daily: Live rolling footy news from around Australia for March 28