Hawthorn defender Jack Scrimshaw has learned his fate for a striking offence at Tuesday's Tribunal hearing, with his three-match ban upheld.
Scrimshaw swung his left arm towards a dashing Jordan Ridley in Friday's Round 1 blockbuster, collecting Ridley across the head. The incident occurred approximately five minutes into the second quarter, and following the knock, Ridley continued to play.
It wasn't until after half-time the Essendon defender was ruled out of the remainder of the game with concussion.
Scrimshaw too suffered a concussion in the game after a friendly-fire head clash with teammate Josh Battle and appeared at the Tribunal with a black eye following facial surgery.
Although Ridley played on for a further 25 minutes, the AFL graded the striking offence as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, resulting in a three-match ban.
Jack Scrimshaw has been offered a three-match suspension following this incident involving Jordan Ridley.
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Hawthorn and Scrimshaw pled guilty to the striking charge but argued that Scrimshaw's sentence should be reduced from three weeks to two, as the impact of the hit should be regarded as high and not severe.
Speaking on behalf of Scrimshaw, Hawthorn's legal team said Scrimshaw was remorseful for his actions and was accepting of the striking offence being high contact and careless.
"Scrimshaw regrets the impact on Ridley, and nothing in our submission is intended to diminish the severity of the concussion or the impact of that concussion on Ridley," Hawthorn's lawyer said.
The Hawks utilised evidence of North Melbourne's Kallan Dawson completing a similar action to Scrimshaw on Jack Crisp in Round 14 last year, which was graded as medium impact.
They also argued that Scrimshaw decelerated before impact with Ridley and that most of the collision's impact was body on body, rather than Scrimshaw's arm.
The AFL's lawyer however deemed that Ridley immediately told doctors about a sore jaw following the incident. Symptoms of concussions also occasionally do not appear straight away, which may be true in the case of Ridley who played the rest of the quarter before being sidelined.
After deliberation, the Tribunal concluded that Scrimshaw should endure his original sentencing of a three game suspension.
The Tribunal said that the force behind the hit was strong, and the concussion injury outcome was unsurprising from the action, hence the severe impact grading.
The upheld ban will see Scrimshaw miss games against Carlton, GWS and Port Adelaide, returning in Round 6's Easter Monday clash against Geelong due to Hawthorn's Round 4 bye.
