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Richmond's Vlastuin faces ban for punch

3 minute read

Richmond's Nick Vlastuin has been offered a one-match ban for striking Connor West during his side's AFL win over West Coast.

NICK VLASTUIN.
NICK VLASTUIN. Picture: Daniel Pockett/via Getty Images

Richmond are likely to challenge a one-match ban given to defender Nick Vlastuin after he struck an opponent, coach Damien Hardwick says.

Vlastuin hit West Coast's Connor West late in the Tigers' 35-point AFL win on Sunday, with the incident assessed as intentional conduct and high contact.

An early guilty plea would bring a one-game suspension, but Hardwick suggested the Tigers were likely to roll the dice at the AFL tribunal.

He suggested a potential defence would be that the contact was not high, although he made no excuse for Vlastuin's "unnecessary" actions.

"We think we will (challenge)," Hardwick told Fox Footy.

"It's not the sort of action with we're overly happy with and Nick's disappointed, the game was over and there was no need to do it at the best of times.

"It's probably just looking at where the contact was, so we'll go through that.

"We'll probably challenge that ... but it's just unnecessary from our point of view."

Vlastuin wasn't the only player from that clash cited, with Richmond ruckman Ivan Soldo offered a $2000 fine for tripping Zane Trew and another $1000 fine for wrestling Nic Naitanui.

Naitanui was also offered a $1000 fine for wrestling Soldo.

Hawthorn's Will Day can accept a one-game suspension after being charged with forceful front-on contact on GWS' Josh Kelly.

The incident was ruled as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact, meaning he'll miss a week even with an early guilty plea.

Port Adelaide's Tom Jonas was offered a $2000 fine for rough conduct on James Aish, while Fremantle's Caleb Serong was offered a $3000 fine for a dangerous tackle on Connor Rozee.

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