ESSENDON has decided to accept the one-match suspension handed to star midfielder Zach Merrett.
The Bombers opted against an appeal on Monday morning, after Merrett was banned for his strike that left Carlton forward Jack Silvagni with a bruised lung and a fractured rib.
>> WATCH THE INCIDENT IN THE PLAYER BELOW
It leaves the gun midfielder out of Friday night's crucial encounter with arch rivals Collingwood at the MCG.
FIXTURE SCRAMBLE Tigers shut out of Queensland, Swans set to play Eagles
Essendon had toyed with the idea of challenging whether the action was a reportable offence, with the club conceding it was unlikely to persuade the AFL Tribunal to downgrade either the conduct or impact charges assessed by the Match Review.
Shame to see Zach get a week. Incidents like that happen 20-30 times a game. He hit a sweet spot and outcome is just unlucky, no malicious intent whatsoever.
— Jack Silvagni (@jacksilvagni) June 29, 2020
Merrett's strike was graded by Michael Christian as careless conduct, with Carlton's medical report leaving the Match Review Officer with little choice but to assess the impact as 'high' despite its innocuous nature.
Silvagni spent Saturday night in hospital, having failed to play out the game after receiving the blow in the first quarter of the club's narrow one-point win.
