St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster has been referred directly to the AFL Tribunal after a brutal bump on North Melbourne's Jy Simpkin.
In an incident similar to the one that saw Sam Powell-Pepper sent to the Tribunal last week, Simpkin didn't return to the field after the hit.
The bump occurred in the first quarter of the AFL Community Series match at RSEA Park on Sunday afternoon.
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Video of Jimmy Webster's hit on Jy Simpkin
Just after Simpkin disposed of the ball in the forward pocked on the boundary line, Webster went airborne and made contact to the North Melbourne's player head with his shoulder.
Jy Simpkin has left the field following this bump from Jimmy Webster.#AFLSaintsNorth pic.twitter.com/UGDuSh7emB
— AFL (@AFL) March 3, 2024
Simpkin stayed down after the bump, received medical attention and was eventually removed from the game with a concussion injury.
North Melbourne players remonstrated with Webster after the incident and audible boos were heard from Kangaroos fans during the remainder of the match.
How long will Jimmy Webster be suspended for?
Webster has now been charged by the AFL Match Review panel with the precedent set by Sam Powell Pepper's rough conduct charge last week also seeing him referred directly to the AFL Tribunal.
Webster has been cited for careless conduct, severe impact and high contract with a three-plus game suspension referenced.
The Saints defender can expect to receive a similar suspension to Powell-Pepper, who received four weeks for his bump that concussed Mark Keane.
A factor that could count in Webster's favour is that Powell-Pepper has a long history of AFL suspensions compared to the Saint.
What they said about Jimmy Webster's bump
St Kilda assistant coach Corey Enright: "He's obviously shown some remorse there and I guess our thoughts are with the North Melbourne player in Simpkin.
"Hopefully he's going to be OK and you never want to see anyone go down. We'll deal with whatever comes out of it from there.
"(Webster) is a great person and he's had a long time in the game.
"As we know with football, it's one step here or one step there.
"It's a really fast game, faster than ever. These things happen really quickly.
"We can only take Jimmy for the person that he is and he's been a great character and great servant for our club."
North Melbourne assistant coach Xavier Clarke: "I just saw him then and he seemed fine. He watched the game from the bench in the second half.
"He'll enter concussion protocols from here and we'll let our doctors and our medical team take care of him.
"They do a really good job with that and we obviously know what he has to go through hopefully to be available for round one."
