WEST Coast will seek some clarity from the AFL regarding the holding the ball rule following its valiant 29-point loss to Collingwood on Saturday.

The Eagles were left bemused early in the final quarter when two umpiring decisions within moments of each other went against them.

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In the controversial passage of play, Collingwood midfielder Ned Long fought and scrapped with the ball in hand for an extended period of time under tackle pressure from Clay Hall without any whistle from the umpire, before the ball squirted out into the path of Liam Duggan, who was immediately wrapped up and pinged for holding the ball.

"There were a few challenging ones tonight that I'm going to look to seek some clarity on, because I thought that there were a couple that I just wasn't sure which way they were going to go," Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said.

"It's a challenging job, umpiring this game, it's a really hard job … we'll just get some clarity from the AFL on some of those decisions, and look to train our players once we get that."

Collingwood coach Craig McRae shared the sentiment around the holding the ball rule.

"To be honest, it hasn't been clear for a long time," McRae said.

"Way back when I was teaching Mason Cox the game he says, 'What's this holding the ball thing?' and I said, 'I don't know, we're working it out'. And still, what are we, 15 years later, 10 years later? Yeah, I'm not sure ... I just don't want to be the guy that rings the AFL every week."

The Pies saw off the strong challenge of 18th-placed West Coast, and it was around the contest that they were forced to adapt.

"We knew what was coming," McRae said.

"Watching their last month, you look at the work of their score against, and for last month, they hung in there. 

"They've been really competitive, and we knew that was going to be the case.

"The last things I said to the boys [in the post-game debrief], we came here for four points. We didn't come here for style points."

Standing up in the face of the pressure presented was the main challenge for the ladder leaders, but McRae still has some questions around his side's connection going forward.

"We had four talls (up forward), we're trying that for the first time. You know, Charlie West deserves an opportunity, but then we didn't want to leave (Brody Mihocek) out in his 150th, and Tim (Membrey) is playing really well, then Dan (McStay is) second ruck," McRae explained.

"We went in the game thinking it is what it is, we'll just try to adapt and evolve for that. Just didn't think we connected as well."

For West Coast, it was a positive match despite the result. McQualter said there were some key errors made throughout the game but ultimately his team's fight was built on work ethic.

"They're small moments (of error) … but (we're) probably not going to concentrate too much on those little moments because there's lots of errors throughout a game of footy and it's about moving on and what you can do next," McQualter said.