Coach Craig McRae admits he "lost his mind" at a "staggering" umpiring blunder in Collingwood's one-point AFL victory over Adelaide.

But the pragmatic Magpies boss says there's no point stewing over a decision involving Nathan Murphy - or other dubious calls - in a frantic finale at Adelaide Oval.

Murphy was positioned under a high ball in the last quarter when Crow Darcy Fogarty crashed into him, front-on.

The Magpie appeared to hold the mark but it wasn't paid, and he didn't receive a free kick either, despite the high front-on contact forcing him from the field with a bleeding nose.

Compounding the matter, play wasn't halted as Murphy was helped from the field, and the ball almost hit him and medicos as they headed to the bench.

Collingwood's Jordan De Goey soccered it over the boundary line, assuming play was to be stopped - but he was penalised for a deliberate out-of-bounds.

"I lost my mind," McRae said.

"Because one, whether it was a mark or a free kick - either, you could argue.

"But then there's blood and he's trying to exit the field and we didn't get a chance to replace the player in the critical moment.

"I was astounded by it."

McRae said he wouldn't seek an explanation from umpires but "found it staggering".

Nor will the Magpie coach ask why an obvious free kick to Ash Johnson in the dying minutes wasn't paid. The Pie forward, in the goal square, was clearly taken high by Adelaide's Jordon Butts.

"In the moment, I'm 'What the hell is going on here'," McRae said.

"But then you move on. You can't do anything about it now, can you?

"You can go through every decision they made or didn't make, that is not where we live.

"We make way more mistakes than they do.

"You make mistakes and move on, that's the way I look at it."