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Alastair Clarkson has been issued a "please explain" by the AFL for an outburst towards two St Kilda players that allegedly included a homophobic slur.

North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson will have to explain himself to the AFL over his "inappropriate" outburst towards St Kilda's Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard, with a sanction potentially on the cards.

Clarkson was incensed after Webster's high, late bump on Jy Simpkin in Sunday's practice match left the Kangaroos co-captain in concussion protocols and the Saints defender with an imminent tribunal hearing.

The coach reportedly used the word "c*******er" during an expletive-laden exchange of words with Webster, who will face the AFL tribunal on Tuesday, and fellow St Kilda defender Howard at quarter time.

Clarkson has already apologised, but has been issued with a "please explain" from the AFL regarding the exchange and the alleged homophobic slur.

He could yet face a fine or other sanction and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon took a dim view of the incident.

"Senior coaches or officials approaching players at breaks in play isn't something that we want to see anyway," Dillon said on Fox Footy's AFL 360.

"When you overlay what's been reported, it's language that Alastair has already come out and said it's inappropriate, it's something I don't like, and we don't need it in our game.

"We don't want to get ahead of the process, so what we do is provide a 'please explain' and give Alastair the opportunity to come back to us.

"We'll talk to St Kilda, and once we've got all that information we'll look at that and weigh it against what our rules are and then deal with it that way."

Clarkson had said he was "deeply disturbed" by the Webster bump on Simpkin, who has a recent concussion history.

"At the quarter-time break I voiced my displeasure to St Kilda players Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard as they made their way to the quarter-time huddle," he said.

"This was an exchange that was emotional in defence of our captain, but unnecessary, and the language I used was inappropriate.

"I have reached out to (Saints coach) Ross Lyon and both the St Kilda players to apologise."

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said Clarkson needed to be punished, especially given his latest outburst came barely a year after he apologised for a heated confrontation with a TV reporter last February.

"Yes, I definitely believe there needs to be a penalty. Because (he) apologised 12 months ago and we're getting a similar red-mist vitriol in the moment," he told SEN Radio on Tuesday.

"Now yes, it defends his team, it defends his player, it defends his club - I get that.

"But the way that that has happened has been consistently inappropriate."

Buckley said a penalty would be "acknowledgement that we do not accept that (type of outburst) any further."

Hot-headed Clarkson has a lengthy history of fiery moments, including needing to be held back from Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd after he broke Hawk Brad Sewell's cheekbone with a bump in 2009.

He punched through the MCG coaching box wall in 2012.

In 2017, he was fined $20,000 by the AFL ($15,000 suspended) after he said he could not comment on "disgraceful umpiring" in Hawthorn's loss to Gold Coast.