Richmond coach Damien Hardwick concedes Marlion Pickett is unlikely to have his one-match ban for rough conduct overturned at the AFL tribunal.
The Tigers will challenge the suspension in the hope of having Indigenous star Pickett cleared to play in Saturday night's Dreamtime match against Essendon at the MCG.
The match is the centrepiece of the AFL's Sir Doug Nicholls Round, and Pickett and his partner Jessica Nannup have designed Richmond's Indigenous jumper this season.
Pickett was suspended for a high bump on Hawthorn's Dylan Moore last Saturday, which was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
Moore underwent a concussion assessment but was cleared to continue playing.
Pickett's case will be heard at the tribunal on Tuesday night, with Hardwick noting the AFL has put the onus on players to avoid head contact.
"It's heartbreaking in a way because the reality is, to the letter of the law, he probably struggles to get off because of the change of interpretation last year," Hardwick told Fox Footy.
"This guy's had an incredible story, he's designed our jumper for the game.
"It's a football act but I do understand that the rules are in place for the head-high contact stuff.
"It's tough. Unfortunately it has to be perfect these days, and that's the challenge."
Melbourne and West Coast are unlikely to challenge suspensions handed down to Kade Chandler and Liam Ryan respectively over incidents that occurred during Sunday's clash at Optus Stadium.
Demons rookie Chandler has been handed a two-match ban over the dangerous tackle that put the Eagles' Luke Foley into concussion protocols.
Chandler was charged with rough conduct, with the incident graded careless conduct, high impact and high contact.
"It's a tough situation," Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin said.
"I can only go by Kade's reaction, he's shattered he's had that impact on the player.
"It's a really difficult footy incident. It's a chase-down tackle, he's coming from a long way away at speed with a lot of momentum. We really feel for the lad."
"To Kade's credit, he was pretty upset by it ... it's a big chase-down tackle that has had a bad impact."
Eagles forward Ryan has been dealt a one-match ban for rough conduct against Jake Bowey.
Ryan chose to bump and made contact with Bowey's head in an incident graded careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
Bowey played out the rest of the match.
West Coast defender Jeremy McGovern has been fined $1000 for misconduct against Melbourne's Jack Viney.
