AFL players are risking injury by flopping for free kicks in an "unintended consequence" of the dangerous tackles crackdown, Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew says.
And four-time premiership player Isaac Smith wants a roundtable discussion on the clampdown which has resulted in 23 instances of players being suspended for dangerous tackles this season.
Umpires are often paying free kicks for dangerous tackles and Dew says some players are trying to draw the whistle by letting opponents take them to ground easily.
"I saw one maybe three or four weeks ago nearly knock themselves out by flopping down to try and draw a free kick," Dew told Fox Footy.
"We're making it really hard both for the tackler and for the umpires because players are no longer fighting the tackle as much as they used to.
"They know that if they do go to ground and it looks semi-dangerous, they're going to get a free kick.
"One unintended consequence of this (crackdown) is players are pretty smart and they'll try and milk free kicks in this way now."
Dew said the new tactic is creating even more confusion for spectators around dangerous tackles and Geelong wingman Smith believed it may take two years to sort out.
"We probably just need to sit down as an AFL community ... and understand exactly what we want, other than we all know we don't want the head to be hurt," Smith told RSN radio on Tuesday.
"But how we are going to get there? That is a discussion that probably needs to be had.
" ... It will evolve over 12 to 24 months but, like the bump, I don't think we're going to get there for a little bit."
Smith also said players were overemphasising contact in tackles.
"As players do, they're finding little tricks to maybe exaggerate certain things that are happening now which I think is disappointing and something we certainly don't want in our game," he said.
"The quicker we can come to a conclusion, the quicker everyone knows what is going on, then hopefully we can get that out of the game.
"But players are very adept at being able to draw free kicks and maximise certain situations to their advantage."
On Monday, Hawthorn captain James Sicily failed in his appeal against a three-match ban for the dangerous tackle that concussed Brisbane Lions star Hugh McCluggage in round 13.
GWS line-breaker Lachie Whitfield accepted his one-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Fremantle's Jordan Clark.
Carlton forward Matthew Cottrell opted not to challenge his one-match suspension for a dangerous tackle on Gold Coast's Ben Long.
Sydney's Sam Wicks accepted a two-match ban for his reckless strike on Brisbane veteran Ryan Lester.
