ESSENDON ruckman Shaun McKernan has received coaching and guidance from the AFL umpiring department after several ruck infringements were paid against him during Saturday night's loss to Port Adelaide.

AFL head umpires coach Hayden Kennedy revealed to AFL.com.au, the Bombers contacted the umpiring department seeking clarification on free kicks paid against the ruckman.

McKernan received four free kicks against him during the match, with coach James Hird admitting the ruckman was "unlucky" after the game.

Kennedy attended training at Tullamarine on Tuesday morning to provide feedback to Essendon and McKernan, to ensure there was no confusion in the future.

"Essendon have contacted us," Kennedy said.

"We did some work with Essendon to hopefully enable them to have a better understanding of the rucks, which then makes it clearer for everyone."

The third-man up debate has continued to rage with several coaches calling for the laws of the game committee to ban it.

Kennedy said it was an element of the game that had added pressure to the umpires decision-making.

But premiership Magpie Luke Ball has told AFL.com.au the third-man up should not be eradicated from the game.

"It helps clear the congestion, and that is everyone's bugbear at the moment," Ball said.

"I know there has been talks about whether we should outlaw third-man up all together, but I think what we see is that it probably creates more good than harm in the game at the moment."