Liam Shiels in action during North Melbourne's clash against Sydney in round 10, 2023. Picture: AFL Photos

THE AFL has moved to clarify whether North Melbourne should have been penalised further following an additional interchange infringement on Saturday, confirming the Kangaroos were mandated to correct their initial breach.

North Melbourne lost to Sydney in brutal fashion when it used a 76th interchange, going over the cap of 75, leading to a free kick and a 50m penalty that took Hayden McLean to the goal line for the match-winner in the dying seconds.

However, vision revealed on AFL.com.au program The Round So Far on Saturday evening showed the Kangaroos made an additional alteration in the immediate aftermath of McLean's goal.

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Did North make a second interchange breach?

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The League has since confirmed to AFL.com.au that North Melbourne officials had been required to void the initial interchange breach, leading to Tom Powell returning to the bench after McLean's goal.

Powell had initially replaced Will Phillips as the club's 76th change, however when he returned to the bench he was replaced by Liam Shiels. Just seconds earlier, Shiels had come from the field for Hugh Greenwood as the team's 75th change.

But the League has deemed the two alterations were made simultaneously enough that the Kangaroos could have elected to replace Powell with either Shiels or Phillips, thus no additional errors were made.

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The AFL has also ticked off the way in which the game's umpires officiated the initial interchange breach, with North Melbourne officials taking full ownership of the error after the game.

A team is not allowed to make an additional rotation after the cap of 75 unless the player exiting the game has left due to a head injury assessment, blood rule, stretcher rule or for a medical assessment.

In this case, neither Phillips nor Shiels fit that criteria meaning that North Melbourne was unable to make the 76th rotation. It ultimately led to the club's heartbreaking defeat, which was its eighth consecutive loss.