West Coast coach Andrew McQualter will seek clarification from the AFL about their head injury assessment (HIA) protocols after the Eagles were left down a man early in the one-point loss to North Melbourne.

Eagles wingman Hamish Davis was left clearly concussed after being ridden to the turf in a tackle from North's Paul Curtis in the first quarter.

Given Davis' arms were pinned in the tackle, Curtis could be suspended over the incident.

The umpires correctly stopped play to allow trainers to attend to a groggy Davis.

When two trainers lifted him up, Davis' legs were wobbly, and he had to be slowly helped off the ground.

But McQualter was left confused as to why the Eagles weren't allowed to send a replacement onto the field immediately while Davis was slowly being walked to the interchange bench by the two trainers.

Umpires restarted play before Davis made it to the bench, with Ryan Maric left a frustrated figure after being told he was not allowed to run on until his teammate made it over the line.

Before Maric finally entered the field of play, the Kangaroos had already swung the ball forward and Nick Larkey was paid a free kick in the goal square for a holding call against Tylar Young.

"I'm going to seek some clarity on this because I'm led to believe if the HIA is called, the match day manager has a responsibility to send the player from the interchange on straight away," McQualter said.

"So maybe a mistake was made in that. I'm going to have to seek that out and find out where that mistake was, because it cost us a goal.

"I think it was fairly clear Hamish was concussed. Fortunately, he's in a good position now, but potentially a mistake was made."

West Coast trailed by 21 points early in the final quarter before launching a spirited fightback inspired by Jobe Shanahan.

Shanahan kicked two final-quarter goals, including a banana from the pocket with two minutes remaining, to bring the Eagles within two points.

Jake Waterman had the chance to win it, but his 35m set shot from straight in front hit the post, allowing North to escape with the 10.14 (74) to 10.13 (73) win.

West Coast (4-10) have the bye next week, and McQualter is confident No.1 draft pick Willem Duursma (calf) will return for the June 27 clash with Carlton.

"Earlier in the week he was a bit sore. If it was grand final day he probably would have played," McQualter said.

"But he's 18 and he's such a valuable asset to us. He was gutted to miss, but it just wasn't quite worth the risk unfortunately."