THE AFL umpiring department has ticked off the deliberate out-of-bounds free kick paid against Matthew Kreuzer in the tense final quarter of last Thursday's Richmond-Carlton clash. 

The Blues' ruckman gathered the ball in a contested situation in his defensive 50 and, with his non-preferred left foot, found the boundary 60m away.

AFL head umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said field umpire Andrew Mitchell made the correct call in line with the rule's new interpretation.

"He kicked it towards the line and open space, so we're happy that call was made for deliberate out of bounds," Kennedy told AFL.com.au's Whistleblowers.

"The change in interpretation from 2015 to this year is more on intent for the player to keep the ball in play."

Kennedy said there was no obligation on Tiger Kamdyn McIntosh – the closest opposition player to the ball when it crossed the boundary – to keep the ball in play.

But he declared the umpires department would "keep our eye on it throughout the year" if the practice became commonplace.

"If a player shepherds the ball over we have to go back to Matthew's intention," Kennedy said.

"If you believe (McIntosh) shepherded the ball out, that (is) irrelevant."

And Kennedy also backed a free kick paid against Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield for demonstrative behavior towards field umpire Scott Jeffery in the Easter Monday win over Hawthorn.

"We've got a zero tolerance for that and we've had zero tolerance for a number of years," he said.

"As soon as that finger points towards to Scott Jeffery, that's a (free kick) every day of the week."