THE ONUS is on umpires to stamp out jumper punches by paying free kicks, according to North Melbourne coach Brad Scott, rather than leaving it to the Match Review Panel to dish out harsher penalties.

Scott's comments came on the back of his side's fiery 14-point win over Melbourne at the MCG on Sunday.

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Spot fires broke out across the ground in the first half of the match, with Kangaroos midfielder Shaun Higgins a central figure. 

Just before the opening bounce, Higgins and Melbourne co-captain Jack Viney locked horns, with the Roos star appearing to throw a couple of sneaky jumper punches.

Five talking points: Melbourne v North Melbourne

Higgins then struck again during the first term, with Melbourne's Clayton Oliver on the receiving end of a strike that left the Demons mid on the ground.

The Demons began to give as good as they got, and the off-the-ball tussles continued into the second quarter with Higgins the prime target.

Melbourne's Christian Salem could come under scrutiny from the MRP after replays showed a crude forearm to the face of Higgins while the Kangaroo was lying on the ground early in the second term. 

But it wasn't until the six-minute mark of the second term that the first free kick was paid, with Higgins on the receiving end after Dees defender Sam Frost shoved him to the ground.

Minutes later, Higgins gave away a 50m penalty for what appeared to be another jumper punch. 

Scott said he wasn't a fan of the jumper punch, describing it as a "cheap shot", but said it was an issue for the umpires to address, rather than the Match Review Panel.

"You wouldn't do that if there were rules," Scott said after the win. 

"If you cop a jumper punch, what are you going to do? If that's OK, then I'm going to give you one back and then it just degenerates from there. I think a free kick is the answer, it's not an MRP issue. 

"A lot of that sort of stuff isn't really for the MRP because they use level of force as a guide. I think the level of force isn't high enough to warrant MRP issue but I think the umpires can make a pretty strong stand early when it's going on.

"As soon as there is a free kick paid, both coaches will stamp it out." 

There have been calls in the past week for the AFL to step in and outlaw the jumper punch, with Richmond skipper Trent Cotchin sparking discussion when he escaped suspension for clocking Fremantle's Lachie Neale.

The Match Review Panel deemed the contact "careless" instead of intentional, handing Cotchin a $1000 fine.

Another contentious off-the-ball practice is the 'tummy tap'.

Last season, Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis was the only player suspended for a gut punch, with all other players receiving fines.

In 2017, the MRP has been instructed to apply a stricter interpretation of impact for intentional strikes to the body where the force warrants a suspension. 

North Melbourne midfielder Ben Cunnington could be the first player this season to be banned under the crackdown, after he struck Melbourne's Bernie Vince in the stomach during the second quarter on Sunday.

Vince was forced from the ground and was seen dry retching on the bench, but was able to play out the game.

However, Scott is confident Cunnington will be safe from suspension.

"I think the MRP have made their stance pretty clear on things like that," Scott said.

"Unless they make a public statement that they're not going to tolerate that anymore then they have to tolerate it until they do."

WATCH: Brad Scott's full post-match press conference

It was a highly physical first half at the MCG with tensions boiling over, but it simmered down in the second half with Scott speaking to the players at the main break.

While Scott was pleased with his side's aggression and physicality, he admitted his players walked a fine line at times.

"We addressed it at half-time that they wanted to be hard and tough at the contest, but that's where we wanted our hardness and toughness," Scott said. 

"It's not a street fight, it's a game of footy. Because really in footy you prove your hardness and toughness in the contest and we gave away at least one free kick off the ball and we just wanted to stamp that out and I thought our guys really responded to that. 

"Clearly Shaun Higgins came into some attention early in the game, so players have got to be careful about standing up for their teammates without letting the team down by giving away free kicks.

"There is a fine line there but we are certainly not going to leave one of our own players high and dry, but at the same time we need to focus on where you show your true aggression and hardness."