DOM TYSON reckons Melbourne copped a couple of rough decisions, while coach Paul Roos said he "won't miss the rules" when he retires, as the deliberate-out-of-bounds interpretation was again in the spotlight on Saturday afternoon.
The frantic final quarter of West Coast's slender 10.6 (66) to 8.12 (60) victory at Domain Stadium was marred when umpire Nick Foot penalised the Demons twice.
Both free kicks were inside the Eagles' forward 50 and gifted the home side shots on goal.
With two minutes to play Tyson was set upon near the boundary line in the pocket and slapped the ball over under pressure but was pinged. West Coast spearhead Josh Kennedy tugged his subsequent set shot.
When asked if the decision against him was "a hot one", Tyson said: "Yeah it was."
"I guess if that happened to the opposition, I wouldn't be too disappointed if it wasn't paid, if that makes sense.
"It certainly just felt like I was attacking the ball and we both got our hands to the footy, and the fact that mine was in front and his was behind forced the ball over so I guess it was off me, but I didn't give it that much to get it over the boundary line."
Earlier in the term, Demons ruckman Max Gawn was also penalised for a deliberate out of bounds despite appearing to overcook his handball, rather than intentionally send it over the chalk.
West Coast's Josh Hill slotted the resulting set shot.
"It does get hard when it's the umpire's discretion to say whether that was a deliberate decision or whether that was just a missed handball," Tyson said.
"I guess some of them are contentious. Today we were on the raw end of a couple."
The interpretation of the rule has been tightened this year, and while Tyson said he liked seeing players try to keep the ball in, his coach was less diplomatic when asked about the free kicks in his post-match press conference.
"I'll say it this way," Roos said after the match. "I'm not going to miss the rules when I finish at the end of the year, because ... Anyway. Enough said."
Tyson was among the Demons' best on Saturday, helping himself to 29 touches and 12 contested possessions.
Jack Viney (26 touches) was dynamic at ground level, and captain Nathan Jones (34 possessions) also found plenty of the footy while Christian Petracca continued his rapid development with 19 touches at almost 90 per cent efficiency in the wet.
"I think as a midfield group we probably took the honours, but it doesn't really matter when you lose the game," Tyson said.
"The important thing is we can take confidence into next week knowing we've all had a good run today. It's just disappointing."
Melbourne host Gold Coast at the MCG in round 19.