A FREE kick paid against North Melbourne's Michael Firrito for a deliberate rushed behind in the opening seconds against Port Adelaide has been given the all-clear.

Umpires coach Hayden Kennedy said a combination of events led to the free kick being paid.

"He [umpire Justin Schmitt] thought Michael had an opportunity to dispose of the ball, he doesn't, and once he gets tackled, he handballs the ball with force well over the scoring line," Kennedy said on Whistleblowers.

"Justin weighed up those two particular items, and because of the distance away of the scoring line and from where it landed, he thought it was a deliberate rushed behind."

While admitting Firrito was under pressure as he was tackled by Charlie Dixon, Kennedy said it was the eight or nine metres the ball travelled over the line that led to it being called deliberate.

"Considering where it landed, and how far over the goal umpire's head it basically went, he decided they were all intentional acts which could have been avoided, and so therefore he paid the free kick," he said. 

The free kick resulted in a goal to Port Adelaide's Jay Schulz.

And in news to further frustrate Kangaroos fans, Kennedy said North should have received a free kick for a deliberate out of bounds by Hamish Hartlett.

"You can see Hamish there, he elects to take that right movement over the boundary line, we think that's his intention, he didn't show an intent to keep the ball in play and it was very smart by Jarrad [Waite] to not put a tackle on or anything," he said. 

"The difficulty for our umpire in that particular case was that he was unsure how close he was when he took possession of the ball.

"He wasn't in a position to guess if Hartlett was that two metres in, so he nominated the throw-in."