Brisbane fronts the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday as it fights bans handed to co-captain Harris Andrews and key defender Darcy Gardiner.
Gardiner is first up at 5pm AEDT, with Andrews’ hearing to immediately follow.
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Andrews was hit with a three-match sanction for striking Bulldogs forward Arty Jones last Saturday, with his act – which concussed Jones – graded by the Match Review Officer as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
Gardiner, meanwhile, was also charged with a one-game suspension for striking; hitting Aaron Naughton in an incident graded by the MRO as careless, medium and high.
As things stand, Andrews is set to miss upcoming Lions fixtures against Sydney, St Kilda and Collingwood, while Gardiner is slated to miss against the Swans this Saturday.
“Get that out of the game. I think it’s absolutely three weeks; could possibly have been more,” four-time flag-winner Jordan Lewis said of Andrews’ hit On the Couch on Monday night.
“I think this is a bad look for the game. Whenever a player is on the ground, players have unbelievable awareness – he knows exactly where Arty Jones is.
“He even has a sneaky look. So, a swinging arm is absolutely careless.”
Geelong assistant coach Nathan Buckley, meanwhile, said he didn’t think Andrews knew exactly where Jones’ head was.
“I don’t think he could understand where Jones’ level was … he doesn’t know that Jones is going down to the ball,” said Buckley.
“I think the swinging arm is deliberate, (but) I don’t think for any stretch that Andrews thought he was going to collect him in the head.
“If you choose to swing, then you’ve got to be accountable to the outcome, and he will be, but I don’t think for a moment that he was intending to hit him in the head.”
As for Gardiner’s forearm to the jaw area of Naughton, triple premiership forward Jack Riewoldt believes the Brisbane defender is “extremely lucky that it is only one week”.
“At no point did he ever put eyes on the ball, or make a play for the ball. That is crass,” he said on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
Brisbane already accepted a one-match ban handed to Zac Bailey for striking the Bulldogs’ Michael Sellwood in the third quarter.
The potential absence of Andrews, Gardiner and Bailey compounds the calf injury to star midfielder Hugh McCluggage, who’ll miss at least the Swans blockbuster at the SCG.
Follow David Zita’s live coverage of tonight’s hearings in the blog below!