Ed Curnow – but not his brother Charlie – has been banned from Sunday’s clash with Melbourne by the AFL Appeal Board, which upgraded the tribunal’s finding of careless contact with an umpire to intentional contact.

Ed was suspended for a week in the extraordinary hearing, just the second time the AFL has appealed a tribunal verdict.

The players did not appear at Thursday’s appeal, where Carlton’s head of football Andrew McKay took a swipe at the outcome and process – while still accepting the decisions.

“It’s a bittersweet moment,” he said.

“We had a very reasonable jury on Tuesday that found (Charlie) guilty of careless contact with the umpire and yet pretty frustrating that same jury was found to be unreasonable (with Ed Curnow’s charge).

“It’s a little bit confusing.

“We’ll cop it on the chin and move on.”