THE AFL has told coaches they must catch the team bus when leaving a game and not walk back to their hotel.
The directive came in the wake of Alastair Clarkson's altercation with an intoxicated football fan in Adelaide following Hawthorn's loss to Port Adelaide in round four.
The League met with South Australian hotel partners Accor on Monday to discuss security as part of its response to the incident involving the Hawthorn coach and the football fan, Luke Helps.
A group of men walked alongside Clarkson and Hawks football manager Chris Fagan as they returned to the Playford Hotel from Adelaide Oval following the team's loss to Port Adelaide in round four.
The group's harassment of the Hawthorn pair led to Clarkson lashing out at Helps with an open hand. A police investigation followed.
An AFL spokesperson told AFL.com.au one of the results of the meeting with Accor was that club personnel must not walk back to their hotel from games.
Coaches and players are to leave game-day venues by the team bus.
"We have sent [a memo] to all the clubs that you now must go by the bus and then in terms of what we can do when players and coaches leave the bus and go into the hotel, that's obviously what we've looked at," the spokesperson said.
"We wouldn't give you specifics of that but the hotel's been of great assistance.
"The primary thing is that our view going forward is everyone needs to be on the bus."
The AFL's nation-wide directive is to be followed immediately. This means St Kilda coach Alan Richardson won't be able to walk back across the bridge after his side takes on Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.
The South Australian Police spoke to Clarkson in Melbourne on Monday as they continue their investigation into his altercation with Helps.
