STAR forward Katie Brennan appears certain to head to the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday in a bid to lead the Western Bulldogs into Saturday's NAB AFL Women's Grand Final.
Brennan was offered a one-match ban for rough conduct against Melbourne's Harriet Cordner after applying a sling tackle on the defender, where her arms were pinned and her head hit the ground. Cordner was paid a free kick and was able to take it.
The tackle on Cordner was assessed as careless conduct with low impact to the head.
Brennan flagged the potential Tribunal fight when she spoke on Monday, before match review officer Michael Christian handed out the suspension.
"I guess we would potentially try to challenge it because we have nothing to lose, in a way, to try and get back out there," she said.
"It was an accident and I apologised to Harriet."
On what it would mean to miss the Grand Final, Brennan said: "It would be absolutely devastating. What's done is done. On review, it was a really heated contest and [there were] an enormous amount of tackles out there. It was our game plan to apply a lot of pressure and it's what we pride ourselves on as forwards.
"It's something I can't control so I just prepare and get around the girls and treat the rest of the day as normal."
On Monday night, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said he was not surprised Brennan was hit with the ban.
"I can see why she is [suspended]. It's the second one from her for the year. She's such a tremendous player, I think she'll appeal and [we'll] see what happens," he said on Fox Footy.
It is expected Ellie Blackburn would captain the Bulldogs in Brennan's absence, as she has done so when Brennan was sidelined with an ankle injury.
Five other charges were laid after a fiery round seven, with Fremantle's Ashlee Atkins a chance to miss round one next year.
The forward was offered a one-match suspension with an early guilty plea after being charged with rough conduct against Carlton's Shae Audley.
In a similar incident to Brennan's, Atkins pinned Audley's arms in a tackle and slung her to the ground, where she hit her head.
It was a fairly spiteful match between the two bottom sides, with Fremantle's Cassie Davidson offered a reprimand with an early guilty plea for striking Tayla Harris.
Carlton rookie Katie-Jayne Grieve was also offered a reprimand with an early guilty plea for rough conduct against Dana Hooker.
Two Melbourne players were offered reprimands with early guilty pleas after their last-minute two-point loss to the Western Bulldogs – Shelley Scott, for rough conduct against Bonnie Toogood, and Katherine Smith, for rough conduct against Kirsty Lamb.
