HAMISH Hartlett's bone-rattling bump on Gold Coast's Seb Tape was fair, Port coach Ken Hinkley believes.
Hinkley watched the replay of the incident a number of times on Saturday afternoon and said after the match he didn't see anything wrong with it.
Hartlett KO'd Tape with a huge hip and shoulder 14 minutes into the second term, leaving the 21-year-old face down and unresponsive.
Suns teammate Charlie Dixon tried to roll Tape onto his side before trainers waved him off.
There appeared no malice in the bump, with a clash of heads between the pair undoubtedly a factor in Tape's concussion.
Hinkley described Tape as a brave player, but insisted he had no problem with Hartlett's approach.
"I watched it a number of times in the box, I'm not sure if anyone can help me – I'm not sure there was any contact to the head as far as anything illegal," Hinkley said after the gritty 17-point win.
"Yes, it was a really strong bump, 'Sebby' Tape is a brave young fella, it may have been the collision on the ground that caused most of the problem … Hamish has clearly had a knock to the back of his head too.
"In the spirit of the game I think he was there to be shepherded … the bump, from what I saw, was a pretty fair bump."
Even if Hartlett finds he has no case to answer with the Match Review Panel, a dislocated shoulder in the final term will likely sideline him for the short-term.
Hartlett was tackled by two opponents before being assisted from the ground in the arms of the trainers.
The Power will wait on scans to fully assess the damage, but Hinkley said the 23-year-old "subluxed" his left shoulder, meaning it dislocated before popping back into place.
He was able to play on after emerging from the rooms, but the coach said there would be no chances taken with the star midfielder.
"He's had a little sublux of his shoulder I'd imagine, that's the way you'd describe it, but it wasn't bad enough that he couldn’t go back out and play the game out," he said.
"We won't know for sure, we'll have to obviously do scans and assess that.
"With a few games to go [before finals] we'll make a really calculated decision on the future for Hamish – we won't take any risk with him."
Teammate Cameron Hitchcock is expected to miss at least two weeks after injuring his hamstring in the opening term.
In his third game for the Power this season, the small forward limped off late in the first quarter and was subbed out during the break.
Hinkley was full of praise for skipper Travis Boak, claiming the club's captaincy had propelled him to another level in 2013.
Boak was inspirational on Saturday with 35 disposals and three goals.
"He's an incredible leader for us and I told him that in the rooms," he said.
"His games this year when we've needed our best players to stand up, I tell him all the time, as leaders you have to play well on game day – that's the most important thing you do for this footy club.
"Travis, bar none of them, has been outstanding and clearly, clearly he has grown as a footballer this year."
