WAS it really that hard to get your head around?

The so-called extra man in the dying minutes of Sydney's draw against North Melbourne last Sunday was debutant Jesse White, who mistakenly ran onto the ground amid a flurry of changes wrongly believing he was replacing Lewis Roberts-Thomson (already replaced by Kieren Jack), instead of waiting for Darren Jolly to leave the ground.

Had White charged into the Swans' forward line and been part of the play that led to Brett Kirk's match-tying point - or had any impact at all - then the extra man WOULD have influenced the result.

In that case, as it had during the infamous "Sirengate" episode when St Kilda scored a point to draw a match with Fremantle long after the game should have been over because the umpires could not hear the siren, the AFL Commission would have been compelled to intervene and give the Kangaroos the four points.

But White ran deep into the Swans' back line - the last place Sydney wanted him, given Jolly's man, Hamish McIntosh, was left unmarked when he left the field and helped launch a final North attack - and did not touch the ball.

And Jolly? He could hardly be expected to know that White had made a false start, and did what any player would do: stayed on the field while the ball was in his zone before running off. While there he made the interception and handball that led to Kirk's match-tieing behind.

But, unless it could be proven Jolly had known White had run on and thus should have gone to the bench, the early interchange had no impact on the outcome. Which meant the AFL was left to deal with a case of what COULD have happened if White had influenced the result. Not what Jolly had done.

In those circumstances, a fine ($50,000, with $25,000 suspended) seemed a reasonable outcome.

It was a case well argued by the Swans, as you would expect. Having dealt with match-fixing allegations, "tunnelling" accusations and the Barry Hall haymaker so far this season, it is hardly surprising they are adept at crisis management.

And yet, just as predictably, the inevitable media-driven debate that routinely surrounds the AFL crisis-of-the-week managed to muddy the waters. In newspaper columns, radio talk-back and website forums, imaginary scenarios about how clubs might now deliberately field more players, dark conspiracy theories about plots to pay back North Melbourne for their refusal to move (much further) north, outdated accusations that the Swans are the AFL's protected species (surely that is now Western Sydney) and a mixture of wrongful or wilfully misleading versions of what had happened clouded the debate.

Not for the first time, the Roos felt victimised. But as noble as they were in campaigning to stop the AFL shipping them to the Gold Coast, this time the Kangas did themselves no favours.

Having declared the matter an "honest mistake" on Monday night, it was not until the AFL's verdict came down 24 hours later that North president James Brayshaw put his hand out for the four points in remarks to a reporter, something that should have been done immediately, with a strong submission, if that was the club's agenda. Yet, the following morning, Brayshaw backed away from his comments again, saying the Roos were only campaigning for a change in the rules.

For that they deserve support. The rule that says only the captains can call for a count of heads is as dated as the long-gone law whereby the two skippers paid the free kicks.

But while the incident is certain to lead to a change in the regulations and a much stricter policing of busy interchange areas, one fact remains: White's premature entry did not cost the Roos victory. It merely could have. Get it?