THE AFL has officially warned Hawthorn over an interchange error during Thursday night's win over Carlton that left the Hawks with 19 men on the ground for a brief period before half-time.
The Hawks failed to set up correctly in the 6-6-6 formation following Adam Cerra's goal shortly before half-time, and received a warning from the umpires.
But the League confirmed on Friday that the Hawks' interchange error should have been considered a 'major breach', and the Blues should have received a free kick and a 50m penalty.
Cerra's goal was Carlton's fourth in a row as the Blues surged to a 10-point lead ahead of the main break.
Sam Mitchell said after the game, which Hawthorn won by 20 points after booting three unanswered goals in the final term, that the error was due to a miscommunication on the bench.
"I just heard about it before I came in here [for the press conference], and the bench guys just said someone came off and then didn't realise someone had come on, and then no one came on so he ran back on," Mitchell said.
"It was just a miscommunication, and it obviously cost us a 6-6-6 warning … we then got another one, so it was a free kick."
The win was Hawthorn's third in a row to start the season, while the defeat left Carlton winless after two games, including the shock round one loss to Richmond.
Full AFL statement on Hawthorn's interchange breach
During the second quarter of last night's game following the Adam Cerra goal and a subsequent interchange of players, Hawthorn had 19 players on the field as the teams were resetting for the bounce. Upon realising this, the AFL interchange official notified Hawthorn who took steps to rectify the error before play resumed.
The AFL Field Umpires paid a 6-6-6 warning as Hawthorn were lined up with 7 players in one of the sections of the field.
Upon review of the situation post-match, it is the view of the AFL that the AFL interchange official should have considered it a major breach, alerted the umpires and Carlton should have been awarded a free kick and 50m penalty from the centre.
The AFL has now provided Hawthorn with a warning in relation to their process for managing player rotations.
