Richmond defender Luke Trainor has received a one-match ban for striking as the AFL’s crackdown on gut punches continues.
Trainor will miss the Tigers’ trip to face Adelaide at Adelaide Oval on Saturday after punching West Coast forward Jack Williams in the stomach as the two were jostling in the goal square at the MCG on Sunday.
Williams dropped to the turf while Trainor jogged off.
Coach Adem Yze had hoped Trainor would only be fined for the second-quarter incident in the 11-point win over the Eagles.
But the match review officer took a dim view of the incident, assessing it as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact, which draws a one-match ban.
It leaves Richmond short of a tall defender against Adelaide’s powerful forward line headlined by Riley Thilthorpe.
AAP
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