Forward Ben Brown says experienced campaigner Brent Harvey instructed him to exhaust the full 'shot clock' in the closing minutes of Sunday's 31-point win over Fremantle.
The 23-year-old goalkicker latched onto a Todd Goldstein kick deep in the left forward pocket with less than four minutes remaining, before taking the full 30 seconds to compose himself as the 'shot clock' wound down on the scoreboard.
The AFL introduced the 30-second countdown clock this season, allowing fans, players and umpires to watch the time running down on the scoreboard as a player kicks for a goal inside 50m.
Brown said a quick word of instruction from Harvey helped him soak up the full 30 seconds.
"He just came over and said, 'Browny, take your full 30'," Brown told NMFC.com.au on Thursday.
"(I'm) not sure if I would've gone quite as far as I did but I thought, 'We're up by the amount we are, if we can milk 30 seconds off the clock then I'll definitely do it, and try and help the team get the win' – that was all that went through my mind.
"We'll just play within the rules and I was just trying to maximise what the rules allowed in that situation."
Given the nature of lining up for goal from tight on the boundary, Brown was not required to go through his usual straight-line run-up.
Instead, he looked up at the clock on the scoreboard and calmly snapped the match-sealing goal after the 30 seconds had elapsed.
"I don't have much preparation when I get to the back of my run-up when I'm on an angle like that, so I didn't have anything to do, and I just stood there and waited for the clock to wind down," Brown said.
Apart from this instance, the new countdown clock had gone largely unnoticed for the 200cm forward and not changed his approach in any way.
"I don't think I've looked at it once during a game," Brown said.
"I just go back and do my routine. I know that my routine is less than 30 seconds long, so as long as I do my routine exactly the same, I know I won't have any issues."
North coach Brad Scott said he would not be surprised if the AFL "look at" tweaking the rule, but believed the officiating umpire would have called time-on sooner if the clock was not displayed on the scoreboard.
"The rules are crystal clear. The AFL brought in a shot clock and gave 'Browny' an exact timeframe in which he had to kick the ball, and he just played within that," Scott said at his weekly media conference.
"It'll be really interesting if there wasn't a shot clock whether the umpire would've called played on; I suspect he would've even though it was within the 30 seconds."
Earlier this week, Jarrad Waite said the 30-second countdown clock was "critical", particularly when scores were tight towards the end of the game.
"It's no different to an NBA player playing basketball (using) the shot clock," Waite told Fox Footy.
"Especially in that last quarter, if he had have missed it and they go down and kick two quick goals, it could be the difference between playing in a Grand Final or not."
