Why Eddie McGuire believes Adelaide Oval layout is 'encouraging idiots'

Eddie McGuire has called on the AFL and Adelaide Oval to provide more protection for players and coaches, following several incidents during Gather Round.

Geelong stars Patrick Dangerfield and Bailey Smith were heckled inappropriately by a fan at the beginning of the weekend. At the same time, Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell also spoke about his tense interaction with the crowd on Sunday night.

McGuire believes it's an infrastructure issue with the Adelaide Oval, given that players and coaches essentially have to come through the crowd.

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"We're encouraging idiots to give it to players to get a response. You can say the players should put their hands in their pockets and come off the ground," McGuire told Nine's Footy Classified.

"I want to extrapolate that situation out. I've had coaches say to me this year that they have had crowd interaction.

"Adelaide, it's a magnificent ground, and we love Adelaide Oval, but you've still got to walk through the crowd.

"I said this years ago, they should have a tunnel. I know the aesthetics aren't what we want, but we just had two blokes walk into the MCG with a gun. It's a new world we live in.

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"Let's take the idiots out of the game. We need to have some cover on those races, don't we?"

Geelong coach Chris Scott believes the current set-up of the Adelaide Oval is equally difficult for spectators who, at times, find themselves restricted by security because of the movements of coaches.

"It's even a strange situation when you have to walk through the crowd. I left the box 90 minutes before the final siren, and it's a real imposition for the spectators," Scott said.

"The Crows supporters were trying to leave, the security are blocking them off, they're kind of agitated, I don't think it's a good environment.

"Here's a little clip for the AFL. They're so conscious of behaviour that might incite unsavoury acts, like coaches interacting with each other on the bench, but they're all for coaches walking through the crowd. It's a little bit of a contradiction for me.

"Look, maybe they're not all for it, but maybe they can't come up with a better solution."

Sam Mitchell witnessed first-hand a fan being ejected for heckling him during Gather Round. A situation arose because of the Hawthorn coach's need to come through the crowd at three-quarter time.