NORTH Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson has apologised for the "inappropriate" comments he made towards St Kilda players in the wake of Jimmy Webster's bump on Sunday.
Webster is set to face a lengthy ban for a bump on Jy Simpkin that ruled the North Melbourne skipper out of the club's AAMI Community Series match at RSEA Park.
During the quarter-time break Clarkson says he 'voiced his displeasure' towards Webster and Saints defender Dougal Howard, an exchange he conceded on Monday was "unnecessary" and included "inappropriate" language.
"I was deeply disturbed seeing our captain Jy Simpkin forced from the field as a result of a heavy collision just before quarter time," Clarkson said in a statement.
"Jy has had a great pre-season and has now had three concussions in 12 months and I was so disappointed to see him leave the field in that way.
"At the quarter-time break, I voiced my displeasure to St Kilda players Jimmy Webster and Dougal Howard as they made their way to the quarter time huddle.
"This was an exchange that was emotional in defence of our captain, but unnecessary and the language I used was inappropriate.
"I have reached out to Ross Lyon and both the St Kilda players to apologise."
Saints coach Lyon told AFL.com.au earlier on Monday that Webster will have to "pay the price" at the Tribunal for the heavy hit.
"There is real concern for Jy, and in the current environment coming a week after Sam Powell-Pepper (who received a four-week ban for a hit on Mark Keane), we understand it is going to be a significant ban and as a coach you don’t want to lose one of your really good players, but you’ve got to pay a price and he understands that," Lyon said.
"The bottom line is it was an unacceptable action on a footy field."
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said the latest incidents showed his players should avoid bumping opponents at all costs.
"It's pretty clear: don't do it," Goodwin told reporters on Monday.
"We'll train our players around the contest. I've said this for a long time, there's really no need to bump ... other than when it's in a one-on-one ground-ball contest.
"It's more about tackling and doing that correctly, and making sure we're able to turn at the right time to tackle the right way.
"We'll keep training our players that way and educating them. We've already seen ... that if you're going to choose to head down that (bumping) path you're going to get in trouble."
