Richmond will challenge forward Rhyan Mansell's three-game suspension for pushing St Kilda defender Liam O'Connell into a contest, in what looms as a "test case" for the AFL tribunal.
In the first quarter of Saturday's game at Marvel Stadium, which the Saints won by 82 points, Mansell shoved O'Connell into the path of Richmond forward Tom Lynch and St Kilda's Anthony Caminiti.
When attacking the ball, Lynch unintentionally collided with O'Connell, leaving the concussed Irishman dazed and confused, and unable to continue playing.
The match review officer graded the incident careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, slapping Mansell with a three-game ban.
It comes after the AFL recently issued a memo to clubs warning them of the dangers of players recklessly pushing other players.
In Mansell's defence, Richmond appear almost certain to reference West Coast's Reuben Ginbey escaping penalty in the pre-season for pushing Richmond's Sam Lalor into a contest.
That caused the prized No.1 draft pick to suffer a broken jaw and concussion.
Tigers coach Adem Yze referenced that incident when asked about Mansell's push.
"Based on previous incidents, I don't think that has been an issue," Yze said.
"So hopefully ours isn't either.
"We had Sammy Lalor break his jaw, if it is a similar incident, so it's pretty hard to change the rules during the season."
Mansell is currently set to miss games against Brisbane, Fremantle and Gold Coast.
Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield labelled the Mansell hearing a "test case".
"We've got to be mindful as players, and there's a duty of care there, and you don't want it (pushing) creeping in too much," he said.
"But there is a balance, clearly, as everyone wants to compete, that's what we love about the game, the combative nature. But there's a fine balance with player safety around that.
"So I dare say that's sort of the test case."
Dangerfield felt it was important for the league to assess incidents that once may have been written off as accidents.
"There's going to be times where it's tested and the status quo of how it's always been is going to be challenged, but it's only, I think, being challenged for the right reasons," he said.
"Because you want players out there available, and where it's pragmatic, you've got to reduce the chances of unfortunate incidents, and potentially this may be along those lines."
Carlton veteran Sam Docherty sits "on the fence" over the penalty, but noted players understood the AFL's focus on protecting the head.
"It's tough. There's so many instances in games where you've got to make split-second decisions," Docherty said.
"I don't think he meant it but the reality is there was a brutal collision on the other end of it.
"These ones are pretty tough for players to understand, and obviously really hard for the match review (officer) to allocate weeks to."
