Carlton legend Mark Maclure believes the one-week punishment handed to Carlton recruit Zac Williams on Monday wasn't enough.
The new Blue will miss round one after his hit on Saint Hunter Clark in the opening seconds of Carlton's AAMI Community Series match was deemed as high contact and medium impact.
Will Carlton's new recruit Zac Williams face scrutiny for this incident? #AAMISeries pic.twitter.com/ef4TrTMbL2
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Carlton contested the charge on Tuesday in a bid to get the hit downgraded to low impact but were unsuccessful.
Speaking on AFL 360 on Tuesday night, Maclure said it simply wasn't good enough for a player who has come in on such a big money deal.
โI thought it was ordinary โฆ he copped his right whack and heโll get a week and heโll move on," Maclure said.
โIโm not happy that heโs come to this football club that I was at and all of a sudden heโs out not playing the first round. I reckon thatโs pathetic for mine.
โI think they should fine him โฆ and say: โHey mate, we brought you here to play. We didnโt bring you here to not play."
Speaking on Sportsday, Gerard Healy said the Blues wasted their time with challenging the charge.
โIt cost the club $10,000 and a lot of mental energy,โ Healy said.
โYou have to ask yourself, is it money well spent? Itโs hard to believe given the climate weโre in with concussion that he gets off.
โSo 50 x $200 membershipโs money gets ripped up. I wouldnโt have appealed, but I guess if you donโt go you never ever know.
โIf there was any environment upon which I think he would get off, itโs not this one.โ
The main conjecture around the suspension is that it does go against some precedent set over the last few seasons.
But with everything the league is learning about concussions and the impact they can have on players post-football this suspension may be a move in the right direction.
Clark underwent a concussions test post-game which he passed, but the test was mandatory.
