AFL umpires boss Wayne Campbell says a controversial holding the ball decision against Andrew Swallow late in Saturday night’s game was “correct”.

Swallow was tackled by Adam Goodes when he bent down to pick up the football, with his momentum pushing his Swans’ opponent back towards the boundary.

Campbell said the North skipper was adjudged to have not made an effort to get rid of the ball.

“The free kick is not because (Swallow) drives with his head, it’s because he then doesn’t dispose of the ball. He needed to handball, and he didn’t,” Campbell told 3AW.

A tweak to the rules recently meant players would be penalized for ducking their head looking for contact while gaining possession.

“It’s not absolutely what the law was brought in for (the Swallow example), but we’re more than content that it was a correct free kick.”

Goodes agreed that the free kick was warranted.

“As soon as he (Swallow) ducked his head it’s a really dangerous situation, because if I drop to my knees I can actually hurt him there,” he said.

“So it is a good rule in that I can just lock him up and you’re not going to try and twist him and throw him into the ground and you can get that free kick.”

But Swallow’s teammate Nick Dal Santo said the new rule was “annoying” and led to players not understanding the definition of ducking.