Sydney spearhead Barry Hall has received a seven match suspension for his behind-the-play left hook on Eagles' defender Brent Staker - a punch which the AFL's legal counsel described at Tuesday night's tribunal hearing 'as a violent and dangerous act'.
Hall was sent straight to the tribunal as a result of one of the most blatant punches seen in the AFL since the 1980's and would have received an even longer sentence had he not pleaded guilty to a strike which was deemed intentional, severe impact and high contact.
Despite not getting the opportunity to received the 25 percent points discount by entering into an early plea as this case was sent straight to the tribunal due to its severity, AFL tribunal chairman John Hassett still advised the three man jury of former players David Pittman, Stewart Loewe and Wayne Schimmelbusch to give Hall the benefit of the usual points discount because of his guilty plea.
Given that Hall ended up with a total of 790 points - that means the tribunal rated the incident as originally worth 987.5 points or just under a ten match suspension.
It means Hall, who had not been suspended since 2002, will still have 90 points - or almost the equivalent of a one game suspension - hanging over his head for 12 months once he returns in round 12 against his former club St Kilda at the SCG.
Had Hall only received a six game ban, his first game back would have been against the Eagles in round 11 at Subiaco where he would have been assured a hostile reception from Perth footy fans.
Hall was expected to miss up to six weeks anyway with a broken wrist he sustained later on during Saturday night's clash but Hassett urged the jury not to take that into account when deciding Hall's penalty.
The Swans' 2005 premiership captain again expressed his remorse during the hearing saying that while he had meant to punch Staker - in a bid to stop him hanging onto him - he had not meant to do so in such a vicious manner.
"I did intend to strike Mr Staker but not with that impact," Hall, a former champion junior boxer, told the tribunal.
Hall had earlier listened as the Eagles' club doctor Gerard Taylor described how Staker was unable to return to the field following the first quarter incident because of constant headaches and a sore jaw.
Dr Taylor said Staker, who did not suffer any break to his jaw, was only a 50/50 chance to play this week.
"Hearing the doctor's evidence, it was not good hearing that kind of stuff," Hall admitted.
However Hall, who had served six previous suspensions totalling 21 weeks during his long career, came under fierce cross examination from the AFL's legal counsel Jeff Gleeson over his actions.
Gleesen was particularly concerned that Hall had again struck a player to the jaw having broken the jaw of Kangaroos' player Sam McFarlane in 1997 while playing for St Kilda in a reserve grade match - which resulted in a five game suspension.
He told Hall that despite having previously broken the jaw of McFarlane in a similar incident 11 years ago, "you still swung a punch (at Staker) with maximum force."
Gleesen said Hall - whom Australia's greatest boxing trainer Johnny Lewis has described as a champion in waiting if