It may come as a surprise to anyone who played against Brad Scott, but the North Melbourne coach says he struggles to be aggressive with his players.

He certainly made an exception for Scott McMahon when the defender gave away a crucial 50m penalty in Saturday night's AFL loss to Brisbane.

McMahon was dragged to the bench and the television footage then showed a furious Scott on one end of the phone line and the player on the other.

"It's a coaching tactic to really ensure the players get messages," said Scott.

"Sometimes if they're not getting that message clearly, it has to be delivered in a pretty stern fashion.

"I really have to build myself up to do that, because I'd like to think most of the time I'm a fairly calm and measured coach.

"Scott (McMahon) certainly got that message on the weekend."

The North coach and his twin brother Chris, now coaching Geelong, were renowned as two of the league's hardest players in their heyday at Brisbane.

Scott had some sympathy for McMahon on Wednesday, saying the 50m penalty to Lions captain Jonathan Brown again highlighted the contentious advantage rule.

"The umpires have suggested they may have been a bit quick on the whistle, too," Scott said.

"It's a bit of confusion now around the advantage rule, Scotty didn't know whether Brown had taken a mark or if it was a free kick.

"He didn't know whether to pick the ball up or leave it, it's a tough one for him.

"But I certainly spelt out my thoughts on it fairly clearly."

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