PROMISING St Kilda defender Ben Long has been sent directly to the AFL Tribunal for his dangerous bump that concussed Sean Darcy on Saturday, while Essendon star Dylan Shiel has been offered a two-match ban for a similar incident involving Curtis Taylor.
Long faces a likely suspension of at least three matches, but perhaps more, after his rough conduct charge was graded by the Match Review as 'severe' impact due to Darcy failing to return to the field because of a concussion.
>> WATCH THE INCIDENT IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
He will subsequently face the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night, but is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after electing to run beyond the football in order to lay the bump that collected Darcy to the head.
MATCH REVIEW Read the full statement from Saturday's games
Meanwhile, Shiel is facing the prospect of a fortnight out after his bump on Taylor was classified by Michael Christian as 'high' impact.
Shiel also elected to bump his opponent, with Taylor assessed by North Melbourne's medical team before returning to the field after he was struck on the head by the point of the Essendon midfielder's shoulder.
The Saints play the Crows next Monday night, while the Bombers take on the Bulldogs next week, with both Long and Shiel likely to be unavailable for both of those respective encounters. The next phase of fixtures beyond round seven are yet to be known.
In other incidents assessed from Saturday's games, St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall was offered a $1000 striking fine while Adelaide midfielder Brad Crouch was offered a $500 misconduct sanction.
