THE AFL has a dilemma. It craves respect — from players, coaches and fans. But it has proclaimed its umpires are off limits. The league has built an electric fence around them.

Making umpires untouchable is going to make things worse. The perception of umpires is at an all-time low — and there are different views as to why.

My perception is they are beyond criticism, lack empathy, have little or no humour, desperately seek respect and recognition and think they are more important than they are.

I am certain this perception is false and that they are terrific fellas and have great wit. Unfortunately, we rarely get a chance to witness it.

Following the incident involving Richmond skipper Kane Johnson last week, AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said players can approach umpires during the game but not at the breaks. Please. This is another example of the reactive protection applied to the umpires that does them no favours.

The AFL is concerned the floodgates will open and a procession of captains will be fronting umpires at breaks. Ye of little faith. The interaction and explanation will do wonders for player-umpire relationships. And surely supporters become more infuriated with umpires "snubbing" captains than engaging in some banter. Effectively, they are being ostracised.

We need to understand an umpire's personality to appreciate and respect the difficult job he has.

About 35 years ago, a young Rowan Sawers was umpiring a game in which I was playing. I had taken a mark and heard the whistle. Rowan asked for the ball, to which I replied: "I marked it." He said: "I know, but I made a mistake." He went on to throw the ball up, leaving me agog and wondering what I could say. He brilliantly defused the situation by taking responsibility and admitting his error. I had nowhere to go, other than to think, "Fair enough".

By contrast, the current leader of the umpires, Jeff Gieschen, is defensive and protective in his responses. This attitude was exemplified by a meeting I had with him a couple of years ago. I told him we felt St Kilda was receiving a raw deal with the umpires and asked if he could shed any light on the matter.

I understood that umpires were human and would possibly react negatively towards the team because of some candid advice I gave that resulted in a $20,000 fine.

The players were not happy about the situation and felt the umpires were not treating them fairly. I felt that if we let Jeff know, the umpires would be aware of the situation and it may improve. We agreed a good tactic would be to ask all the umpires if they had a problem with St Kilda or me, or both.

After conducting interviews with the umpires, Jeff told me none of them had a problem with the team or me, but they all felt I had a problem with them! I burst into laughter, and nearly spat my latte over Jeff and said: "So you don't think there is a problem then?!" He replied: "Not with us, no!"

He went on to say he was horrified to hear there was a dummy umpire in the St Kilda football department. What he didn't know was Nathan Burke had bought it for me in the annual club Kriss Kringle. It was Burkey's way of rubbing in the fine I had received.

What concerned me was that Anderson had seen fit to inform the umpires department that he had seen the dummy at an earlier meeting at the footy club. Something is terribly wrong when that happens.

The AFL is the leader of the football family, but it does not treat its flock as family unless it suits it — often when things get ugly, the AFL is guilty of passing the buck.

Among AFL players, there are some 640 children and, let's be honest, most of them are just that — kids. They are mischievous, sometimes rude, sometimes selfish and working to get the best result for themselves. Some party too hard, some fight too much, others punt a bit, a few like to take things that take their mind to another place.

They are in a brutally competitive environment where they are taught to survive rather than support, contrive rather than care, and a few don't understand the meaning of the word humility.

Some think how they look is more important than how they act. But the large majority are the most magnificent young men you could ever wish to be associated with.

The AFL is not there just to sit in judgement of its family members. It has a responsibility to lead the way and assist clubs in a unified and collaborative manner. To sit back and set fines and penalties on players and clubs does nothing other than alienate the parties involved.