St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster has been hit with a seven-week ban for his bump on North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin.
At a tribunal hearing on Tuesday evening, Webster confronted his error and admitted he had no excuse for the collision during a Community Series game on Sunday that left Simpkin concussed and ruled out of Round 1.
The AFL pushed for an eight-week ban, with the Saints insisting that would be disproportionate.
However, precedents in past cases are no longer taken into consideration following a change in the tribunal guidelines during the off-season.
Earlier, Kane Cornes insisted an eight-week ban would be too long for Webster.
The Port Adelaide great drew comparisons to an incident featuring Collingwood’s Jordan De Goey and West Coast’s Elijah Hewett last year, in which the Magpie also took his eyes off the ball and collected Hewett with a head-high bump.
De Goey was offered three weeks on that occasion and Cornes described the AFL’s push for eight weeks for Webster as “ridiculous”.
“I can’t believe you could go from three weeks to eight in less than 12 months… for that incident to cop eight is a little bit ridiculous to me considering a similar one last year got three,” Cornes said prior to the verdict being handed down.
Webster will miss games against Geelong, Collingwood, Essendon, Richmond, Greater Western Sydney, the Western Bulldogs and Port Adelaide as a result of Tuesday’s hearing.
His case was the only one heard on Tuesday ahead of the AFL season kicking off on Thursday evening when Sydney hosts Melbourne.