<
>

Carlton's Acres, North's Logue both cop one-game bans

Carlton and North Melbourne will each be without a suspended player for their Good Friday clash after the AFL Tribunal rejected challenges from both clubs.

Kangaroo key defender Griffin Logue and Blue Blake Acres both had one-game bans for rough conduct confirmed by the tribunal on Tuesday night after incidents stemming from round three.

Acres copped his for a bump on GWS player Brent Daniels, his argument that he was trying to smother a kick rather than bump his opponent rejected.

The Carlton winger said a pectoral injury he'd suffered earlier in the contest had stopped him lifting the arm that made contact with his opponent.

His lawyer said he was looking to avoid making contact with Daniels due to his injury, Acres' actions weren't unreasonable in contesting the football, and impact was "glancing".

The AFL said Acres moved towards Daniels rather than the ball and any contact wasn't incidental in the act of smothering.

Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson agreed and upheld the ban.

"Acres may have at one point intended to smother, but it was not his intent just prior to or at the moment of impact," he said.

"The angle of his approach to the contest was at the last moment towards the player."

Logue's ban compounds defensive issues for the Kangaroos ahead of their battle with Carlton twin towers Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, with fellow key back Ben McKay still sidelined with a foot injury.

Logue's defence was that he was only ever attempting to win the football and did not intend to "bump'' Day, with his eyes locked and his head over the ball at the point of collision.

No free kick was awarded against Logue and his lawyer noted no Hawthorn players remonstrated with him after the incident, and Day was not injured.

But Gleeson dismissed his arguments and said he had made a specific decision to bump.

"After initially preparing to bend low to pick up the ball, (Logue) changed his intention, did not attempt to pick up the ball, but instead chose to bump," he said.

"He could and should have gone lower and closer to the ball with his hands in an attempt to pick up the ball rather than choosing to bump."

Before the hearing, Kangaroos coach Alastair Clarkson said they were challenging the ban for an "assessment on what is allowed in the game''.

"In this instance, we think this is in play and in a split-second the decision's had to be made and that decision in our view was around (Logue) trying to protect himself more so than trying to take a player out," Clarkson said.