Former Melbourne captain Jack Viney has been handed a two-match ban after an incident involving Gold Coast defender Sam Collins during Melbourne's 98-point win over the Suns on Sunday.
After a lengthy tribunal hearing, Viney was found guilty of pinning his elbow to the neck of Collins, and despite there being no physical injury to Collins, the act was classed as serious misconduct.
AFL personalities gave their opinion on the matter following the controversial result of the tribunal.
AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley initially believed that a one-week ban would be an appropriate sanction.
“I thought this would be a week but the longer the day went the more I understood people were reacting to it I thought it was more serious than I first thought." Whateley said.
Star Richmond forward Jack Riewoldt added that Viney was "lucky" the ban was only two weeks, as it easily could have been a three or four week ban.
“He’s lucky. I reckon you’re walking a fine line there with that one,” he said.
“There’s a few things that have happened this year, little elbows and whatnot, that probably have been deserving of a one week penalty and haven’t received that.
“I don’t think people would bat their eyelids at all if they’d said sort of three or four. Two weeks is still a pretty big price to pay at this point in the year and clearly he’s a very good player for them as well so I think he’s sitting back now wishing he hadn’t done it.”
The AFL have been vocal regarding their priority to stamp these actions out of the game, making examples out of some players who step out of line.
Twitter users provided mixed responses, one user writing "It would appear Jack Viney's defence fell apart at the tribunal last night when it was confirmed that he was not Lance Franklin."
And another writing "Jack Viney should have got four weeks. What an absolute dog act."
Viney will miss Melbourne's clash with the West Coast Eagles at Optus stadium, as well as their following match against the Adelaide Crows.