PUNCHING opponents in the guts will no longer be tolerated, with the AFL putting players and clubs on notice that the practice must stop.

However, the crackdown will not require any rules to change, with AFL football operations boss Simon Lethlean confident the MRP has sufficient scope to ensure jumper punches and gut punches are eliminated.

Lethlean said the benefit of the doubt may have been given to the players in previous seasons as there was a reluctance to rub players out for low level offences.

He said jumper punches and gut punches were not part of the game and as the head of football he had a responsibility to do whatever was required to stamp such acts out.

"I do not like the current conduct of so-called gut punches or jumper punches. It is my role to stamp that out," Lethlean told AFL.com.au.

"The MRP has the tools at their disposal to sanction players appropriately. Players and clubs, if they weren't already, are now on notice that we are not going to put up with this sort of conduct."

Lethlean said he had no issue with the decisions the MRP had been making but he had spoken to them about what the expectations were from this point.

"We are not going to put up with continued on-field conduct of this nature and we are also going to make sure umpires are well aware we want stronger vigilance to pay free kicks and 50 metre penalties if they see this sort of behaviour," Lethlean said.

He did not consider appealing the Ben Cunnington decision and sending it to the tribunal because he understood the rationale behind the MRP's decision.

"I don't think the MRP was prepared to make an example of Cunnington until we had a think about our views on this," Lethlean said.

"We are strong on the fact we don't want this to keep going and we have now given the players the notice they require that we are not going to put up with it."

He stopped just short of declaring Cunnington would be rubbed out if he did the same thing in round 10 as he did against Melbourne in round nine.

"I think he would be taking a significant risk to gut punch a player in this round of footy," Lethlean said.

"Players are on notice that if they want to continue this sort of conduct they do so at their own peril."