North Melbourne coach Brad Scott added to the chorus calling for a substitute player on the bench after his side survived a late fright to beat Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.

The Kangaroos led by 54 points at three-quarter time but, instead of enjoying a rare walloping of an opponent, watched as Adelaide charged from seemingly nowhere.

The Crows kicked seven goals to none in the last term and brought the deficit to nine points with 37 seconds remaining, although North hung on for a 12.12 (84) to 11.9 (75) win.

Scott said an early back injury suffered by ruckman David Hale, when he landed heavily, reduced the Roos to three players on the bench and had an "enormous" impact on his side's inability to finish the game strongly.

He said it was time the AFL acted so teams were not at a disadvantage players suffered game-ending injuries.

"Clearly. Absolutely no question," he said.

"It worked very well in the (pre-season) cup and I don't even think it should be for an injury.

"There should be a substitution (rule) anyway. It creates too much of a grey area when you talk about it having to be for an injury.

"People don't reason what a huge decision it is to substitute a player in the (pre-season) cup, because once you substitute them that's it. You can't reverse that.

"I just think it's becoming a really obvious choice now."

For three quarters North were magnificent, as skipper Brent Harvey (three goals), midfielders Andrew Swallow and Daniel Wells dictated terms.

Todd Goldstein also did a great job carrying the ruck, given Hamish McIntosh was out through a shoulder injury.

Adelaide struggled to get the ball into attack in the first half, but might have won the game had it run another two minutes.

But Crows coach Neil Craig said the late charge "sugar-coated" an overall poor performance from his side, which now has a 1-7 win-loss record and looks no chance of reaching a sixth successive finals series.

"The issue is the type of football we're playing. I haven't even thought about finals footy, we're so far away from it," Craig said.

"You wouldn't even raise it."

Craig said Adelaide were flattered by the last quarter scoring and were staring at a 15-goal defeat at the last change.

Scott, whose side now has a 4-4 record, said the Kangaroos set up the win over the first three quarters.

"We really set up the game, played some great footy, we were a ruckman down, so I thought it was a fantastic effort by our guys and they thoroughly deserved the win," he said.

"We'll have a look at the last quarter, but sometimes when things are against you, you need players to stand up and I thought we had a lot do that (tonight)."

Hale was cleared of a fracture but is in doubt to play the Western Bulldogs next Saturday, but McIntosh is a chance to return.

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