St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has provided an update on Liam O'Connell, who suffered a concussion after being pushed into a marking contest in the Saints' clash with Richmond on Saturday.
O'Connell's concussion came from a shove by Richmond's Rhyan Mansell in a marking contest, with the contentious action and injury outcome once again sparking debate over potential sanctions and suspensions for the act.
The act could potentially result in a suspension of three weeks for Mansell if he is charged with rough conduct, however Lyon was quick to dismiss any unsportsmanlike behaviour from the opposition, saying that although he didn't see vision of the collision it seemed "pretty fair."
"He's got a shiner (O'Connell). I know you're not going to believe this, but I didn't see it right, so I didn't review it, but I actually didn't," Lyon said.
"I know he got a head knock. I saw him on the bench. He seemed okay.
"It's part of the game, isn't it? Sometimes you get hit. I think it was played in pretty good spirits, it was pretty fair."
"That's got to be stamped out."
Liam O'Connell left the ground for assessment after this grim collision.
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Richmond coach Adem Yze said based on previous instances this season, Mansell shouldn't fear potential repercussions.
"I didn't see the incident, but based on previous incidents I don't think that has been an issue so hopefully ours isn't either," Yze said.
"I'd think they'd take every incident as it is, but we had Sammy Lalor break his jaw. If it is a similar incident it's pretty hard to change the rules during the season so.
"As I've said if it's deemed inappropriate we'll deal with it but up until then I haven't seen the incident."
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon also commended captain Jack Steele for making an "honest" call for conceding he was not 100 per cent fit to play against Richmond on Saturday.
Steele was a late withdrawal from the match with a knee issue, promoting debutant Tobie Travaglia into the starting 22.
The 30-year-old's absence was insignificant by the final siren however, as the Saints rolled a young Tigers outfit by 82 points after a closely contested first half.
Lyon confirmed Steele's knee concern was from a knock at training during the week, and said he had agreed with Steele's decision to be cautious around the injury.
"He had a little tweak training. We thought he'd be up, but he just felt that in the warm-up," Lyon said.
"I spoke to the players, it's good to go to play with injury, but it's also good to make an honest call. There's more courage to make the honest call, it's not a comfortable thing walking in as captain, so I thought he's quite courageous, but you feel like you're missing because you've been in ripping nick.
"We're pretty confident he'll be fine and he made the right call.
"It was just a knock on the knee. Little bit of swelling. No scan, there was no fitness test today, but he just didn't feel quite right."
Steele is likely to be back in action in Round 4, with St Kilda aiming to continue its winning streak against Port Adelaide, while the Tigers return to Marvel Stadium to take on Brisbane.
