Port Adelaide young gun Zak Butters has been offered a two-match ban by the AFL match review officer for a high bump that sidelined North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin.
Butters could have tackled Simpkin at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night but instead chose to bump the Kangaroos midfielder.
The 19-year-old caught Simpkin on the chin, leaving him dazed and requiring medical attention.
Kangaroos medical staff were quick to rule out Simpkin for the rest of the match, which the Power won by 36 points.
MRO Michael Christian charged Butters with rough conduct and assessed the incident as careless conduct, high contact and high impact.
Port coach Ken Hinkley defended Butters’ approach to contests when asked about the incident in his post-match press conference.
“It’s not my job to sit there and pass judgement on what was right or wrong,” Hinkley said.
“I know Zak’s a tiny little fella who goes hard at the footy as best he possibly can and fair.
“You’ve seen not long after that too where (Jack) Ziebell goes running at him, he just plays it the same way all the time.
“But there’s other people that take control of that now and I should sit back and wait for them to give us an outcome.”
If Butters accepts the sanction, he will miss the Power’s matches against Essendon and Collingwood which will conclude their home-and-away campaign.
But he will be free to play in week one of the finals, with the ladder-leading Power on track to host a qualifying final.