GEELONG vice captain Patrick Dangerfield has been found guilty of engaging in rough conduct by the AFL tribunal and will miss the next three matches.
Dangerfield knocked out Adelaide's Jake Kelly in the Cats' shock round one loss on Saturday and was sent directly to the Tribunal. He could not make an early plea.
The star midfielder will miss matches against Brisbane, Hawthorn and Melbourne.
He will be available for selection against North Melbourne in round five.
Geelong has elected not to appeal the decision.
“No we won’t appeal the decision we accept the Tribunal’s decision,” Dangerfield told Channel Seven.
“Disappointed but certainly understand it and appreciate the current climate and how we need to make sure that we protect players’ health and safety and respect concussion for what it is.”
Asked if he’d opt to tackle rather than bump if he had his time again, Dangerfield insisted he hadn’t thought about it.
“Look, the game’s a collision game, there’s accidents that happen. It’s still a really difficult game to officiate and to play at different stages. So there’ll always be different incidents that occur,” he said.
“There’ll still be a place for the bump within the game, but we’ve got to be respectful of minimising contact to the head where possible.”
