PORT Adelaide gun Dan Houston has been sent straight to the Tribunal for his brutal bump on Izak Rankine, while Greater Western Sydney will also appear this week to challenge the one-match ban handed to Lachie Ash.
Houston laid out Rankine in the third quarter of the second-placed Power's important win over Adelaide in the Showdown on Saturday night. Rankine was eventually helped to his feet and driven off the ground on a medical cart, and was ruled out of the game due to concussion.
The Match Review Officer graded the incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, sending Houston straight to the Tribunal
Such a classification carries a ban of three or more matches, while a classification of intentional would have been a ban of four or more games.
It's yet to be seen how long a ban the AFL will push for at the Tribunal this week.
With only one round plus finals remaining this season, there remains a high possibility Houston won't play again this year.
If he ends up with a four-game ban, Houston would need the Power to lose their qualifying final and recover to make the Grand Final in order for him to play again in 2024. A ban of five matches or more would be the end of his season.
It not only puts Houston's participation in Port's finals campaign in serious doubt, but means he may not play for the Power again. The 27-year-old, who is contracted until the end of 2027, is considering a move home to Victoria.
Meanwhile, Ash has been banned for one match for a dump tackle in the Giants' match against Fremantle on Saturday.
During the second quarter, Ash pinned the arms of Dockers gun Hayden Young and tackled him to the ground, with Young's head making heavy contact with the ground.
The Giants confirmed on Monday that they will challenge the ruling.
Fourteen other players were fined from Saturday's games, with Melbourne's Jack Viney copping a $10,000 fine for a third rough conduct offence.
Port Adelaide's Zak Butters also copped another fine for his involvement in the melee that followed the Houston-Rankine incident.
