Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks has defended the club’s bizarre use of the medical substitute, saying Tom Lynch’s stalled introduction in the three-point loss to Hawthorn went “exactly as planned”.

AFL commentators and club greats were left scratching their heads when Crow Will Hamill was taken from the field injured late in the third quarter against the Hawks.

Instead of medical substitute Lynch entering the game automatically, as all other AFL clubs have done since the rule was hastily introduced before round one, the key forward was still sitting on the bench in his tracksuit, not strapped and without his footy boots on.

In total, it took Lynch an estimated 13 minutes to replace Hamill on the field.

“We acknowledge off the bat that it wasn’t the best look,” Nicks said.

“For supporters and people watching on the TV to have a player it looked like rushing around the changerooms getting organised, we can see how that came across.

“The intention that we went into the game with and the plan was executed exactly as we’d planned it.

“Would we go the same way this week and have our medical sub not rush, compose themselves, get ready, make sure that they're ready to go?

“Yeah, we’d go the same way. We’d give that player 15-odd minutes.”

The moment of madness did not go unnoticed, with Crows footy boss Adam Kelly sent to front the media that night.

Kelly blamed an ongoing medical issue for Lynch’s delay saying the forward needs “some treatment prior” to heading out on the field.

But many experts questioned why Lynch was named the sub if he is not 100 per cent fit, with Port Adelaide great Warren Tredrea calling the comments “spin”.

Jason Dunstall called Lynch’s display “unprofessional” while Leigh Montagna said the club played “one man short” and it ultimately cost them.

“They didn’t want to play him. He went as the 23rd man with the intention of not actually using him on the field. How do you do that as a football club?” Montagna said on Fox Footy.