Young Sydney forward Tom Papley has labelled Melbourne forward Tom Bugg's strike on Callum Mills that left the Swan concussed as a "dog act."

Bugg was reported in the opening minutes of Melbourne's loss to Sydney at the MCG on Friday night, after striking Mills in the face, which saw the youngster helped from the ground and subsequently ruled out of the remainder of the match with concussion.

Sydney players remonstrated with Bugg straight after the incident, and Papley also voiced his displeasure of the hit after the match.

"It was a pretty dog act," Papley told AAP.

"That's not how we go about it, it's not what the League's about. If you want to be tough, you be tough at the contest, not 80 metres off the ball.

"He'll have to deal with it. He'll cop his whack and we move on."

Given the incident involving Bachar Houli last weekend that saw the Tiger referred straight to the AFL Tribunal, it is suspected Bugg could be facing the same punishment.

If Bugg's hit is deemed as intentional and of high impact, he'll follow in Houli's footsteps and be sent straight to the Tribunal, which will likely see Bugg face a suspension of at least four weeks.

Following the match, Bugg was photographed shaking hands with Mills and reportedly apologised to the 2016 AFL Rising Star winner, and post-game told the media he is ready for any punishment he receives.