The AFL has ruled there was no breach of the interchange rules in the final seconds of Collingwood's round-eight draw with Hawthorn, ending a 26-day wait over whether Jack Gunston pushed the Hawks over the league's 75-rotation cap. The league said on Tuesday that Gunston did not enter the field of play before the siren sounded and that it would take no further action.

The dispute flared after a Channel Seven report on Monday suggested Gunston had become Hawthorn's 76th interchange in the draw with Collingwood. If that had been correct, the Hawks would have been over the limit and Collingwood would have been awarded a free kick and a 50m penalty, enough to turn the result into a win. Instead, the AFL said the interchange official had Hawthorn listed at 74 rotations at the time and that the official count controls the match record.

Greg Swann said Gunston was the 75th and final rotation on the night. He said, “On the night, the AFL interchange official had a count of 74 rotations with Gunston being the 75th and final” and added, “In any event, having recently reviewed the vision, Gunston doesn't enter the field of play before the siren sounds.”

The league's explanation also pointed to earlier match vision. At the 20-minute mark of the first quarter in the round-eight game, Hawthorn made four rotations in footage logged by Champion Data, while the AFL interchange official recorded only three. That gap went to the heart of the argument over the final seconds, where the question was not whether the Hawks had changed players, but whether they had gone beyond the cap that triggers a 50m penalty and hands the opposition possession.

The AFL said clubs are mandated to go by the count maintained by its interchange official, whose tally has the final call on rotations in any given match. With the league now saying the official count was correct and that Gunston never crossed onto the ground before the siren, the collingwood hawthorn interchange breach issue is closed, and the draw stands.