The Bulldogs were handed a free kick on the cusp of three-quarter time at Etihad Stadium when Swallow was ruled to have blocked Western Bulldog Josh Dunkley from a boundary throw in despite Marcus Bontempelli appearing to nominate for the ruck contest. The umpire had believed Dunkley was the nominated ruckman.

Dunkley missed the set shot in what became a knife-edge contest, with the Kangaroos continuing to remonstrate with the umpires when the siren sounded.

AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said on Saturday that audio of the incident showed the umpires had made the right call.

"The match audio clarifies that Dunkley nominated verbally as the Bulldogs' ruckman after the umpire confirmed (Todd) Goldstein was the North Melbourne ruckman," he said.

"Then Bontempelli puts his hand up. The umpire said no to Bontempelli being nominated, who didn't engage with Goldstein and stayed behind him. The free was paid against Swallow for blocking to Dunkley.

"Obviously, the issue for all viewers and media is that they don't hear Dunkley nominate but only see Bontempelli put his hand up after the umpire confirms the Bulldogs' ruckman, and that also possibly applied to a couple of North players around the ball."

Bontempelli said later he felt the Bulldogs had been given a "gift" when the call was made.

"I was a bit confused to be honest. I actually thought I'd nominated for the ruck because I couldn't actually see Josh next to me," he said on Fox Footy.

"Whether it was just an error (from the umpire), we all make mistakes. I probably made the mistake in that instance but we were lucky it panned out the way it did. We probably (got) a gift there from the umpires."

The new rule continues to spark debate, with some industry figures wanting it axed. Former Richmond coach Terry Wallace maintains there is "massive confusion" for all parties.

The rule could be reviewed in coming weeks, with suggestions it's best to drop the need for a club to nominate a ruckman, but a penalty would apply if two men from the same team jostle for the ball.

AFL great Leigh Matthews, who is also on the Laws of the Game committee, has questioned why teams are required to nominate their ruckmen.

"Put the ball back into play, you know a maximum of one from each team can jump, if a second bloke from any side jumps, free kick 'em," he said.

"All these free kicks are only happening because there is some confusion over who is supposed to be the nominated jumpers. Don't nominate - there won't be any confusion."

Kangaroos ruckman Todd Goldstein has said he believes the AFL altered the ruling more "drastically" over summer than what was required.

While agreeing with the new third-man-up rule in principle, Kangaroos coach Brad Scott said the manner in which it was interpreted by the umpires needed tweaking.

"Our midfield coaches weren't overly happy. I didn't have enough time to worry about it, it was spilt milk a little bit by that stage," Scott said.

"But what I will say about it is that I like the fact that we are protecting the 200-plus-centimetre players in the game. You can't jump third-up at the centre bounce, so why should you be allowed to do that around the ground? We don't want to breed our big, tall, beanpole-type ruckman out of the game, so the rule in itself, philosophically, I agree with but clearly the adjudication and the execution needs a bit of tweaking."