Blue blow: Eddie Betts accepts three-game ban
Eddie Betts to sit out three games after his hit on Nathan Wright
CARLTON will be without Eddie Betts for the next three games after the forward accepted his suspension for rough conduct against St Kilda youngster Nathan Wright.
He will miss the Blues' clashes against Port Adelaide, the Brisbane Lions and Greater Western Sydney before being available for their round 11 clash with Essendon.
The 19-year-old had to be substituted out of the game following the high bump and suffered a suspected broken jaw.
The incident was assessed as reckless conduct, severe impact and high contact, totalling 550 demerit points and a five-match sanction.
Betts was able to accept a three-week ban with an early guilty plea because of his six-year good record, which reduced the penalty by 25 per cent to 412.5 points.
Betts left the ground to shepherd Wright in the Saints' defensive 50m zone, leaving the youngster dazed as he left the ground clutching at his jaw.
MRP chairman Mark Fraser said by choosing to leave the ground, Betts's conduct was reckless and he was liable for any damage to his opponent, even if there was a head clash.
"There wasn't a head clash with this one, he just got him high with the shoulder, but we thought it was a reckless act," Fraser said on AFL.com.au's The Verdict.
It was the only report laid by the MRP out of Monday night's game, with St Kilda midfielder Jarryn Geary cleared of a bump on Carlton captain Marc Murphy.
Fraser said Murphy should have been paid a free kick, but the force used in the bump was below that required to constitute a reportable offence.