Geelong will contest the one-match ban handed to Steven Johnson, but will risk the star midfielder missing an extra week if found guilty.
Geelong star Steven Johnson will face the tribunal on Tuesday night after Cats decided to contest his one-match suspension for kneeing North Melbourne’s Scott Thompson.
The Cats are of the belief that Johnson’s contact with Thompson was not forceful enough to warrant a report.
Due to Johnson’s poor record, he will be banned for two matches if found guilty by the tribunal.
Geelong coach Chris Scott told the club’s website he was confident Johnson would get off the ban.
“My position is that we would have to be absolutely adamant that there’s been a travesty of justice here for us to even consider risking losing Steve for another game,” Scott said.
“Given the fact that there was a 300-game umpire two metres away, and he didn’t see the need to even pay a free kick, then I think that would work strongly in our favour.
“The way the system works, for us to plead our case on this one, in what is a very innocuous incident, we have to risk Steve not only missing the biggest game of the season for us this week, but missing a really big game the week after for something that is, in the way footy’s played, absolutely inconsequential.”
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