Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell says Will Day was left "battered" by a collision with Paddy Ryder that will attract scrutiny from the AFL match review officer.
Day kicked the ball through the middle of the MCG during Sunday's 69-point defeat to St Kilda and was crashed into late by Ryder.
Hawks players rushed to remonstrate with the Saints ruckman as their teammate lay on the ground.
Stand-in Hawthorn captain Jaeger O'Meara made a point of following up with Ryder when the pair next crossed paths, sparking another scuffle.
Day was substituted out of the match with a concussion and will miss the Hawks' Easter Monday clash with traditional rivals Geelong.
"He's a bit battered, he's a bit sore and sorry for himself," Mitchell said in his post-match press conference.
"Something similar happened this time last year so it's not ideal.
"He entered the concussion protocols so we'll wait and leave that with the medical team.
"We'll assess him through the week and look after him."
There did not appear to be much malice in Ryder's approach to Day but the AFL usually takes a dim view of any head contact.
St Kilda coach Brett Ratten said he watched the incident on replay and is hopeful Ryder will be available for the round-five clash with Gold Coast.
"It did look like he just hit him pretty much up the front, which is going to hurt somebody," Ratten said.
"He (Day) was quite open there and it looked pretty fair to me but we'll let others make those calls.
"That's why they're in the game."
Ratten revealed Saints debutant Marcus Windhager had a collision of a different kind on the morning of the match when he was involved in a car crash.
Windhager impressed with 15 disposals and four tackles on debut.
"He actually had a car accident this morning so he was probably a little bit rattled and he's come out and performed at a pretty good standard first up," Ratten said.
"His contested ball and his competitiveness was there and his ability to run over the ground is pretty impressive for a young fella."
GWS ruckman Braydon Preuss was offered a one-match ban by the MRO for striking David Mundy during Saturday night's 34-point loss to Fremantle.
Preuss had just taken the mark when he swung back his arm and collected Mundy in the back of the head with an elbow in a bid to break free of the veteran midfielder.
The incident was assessed as intentional conduct, low impact, and high contact, with the one-match ban to rule him out of Saturday night's crunch clash with Melbourne at the MCG.
Fremantle veteran Michael Walters was slapped with a $1000 fine for pushing an opponent into the path of an umpire.
Richmond big man Toby Nankervis escaped with a $2000 fine for tripping Western Bulldogs ruckman Tim English.
