Collingwood gun Dan Houston is facing a two-match suspension for his late hit on Carlton utility Lachie Fogarty.
The AFL Match Review Officer (MRO) graded the incident careless conduct, high impact and high contact, which results in a two-game ban for the Magpie half-back.
It remains to be seen whether Houston and Collingwood contest the charge at the AFL Tribunal, which could see a defence revolve around the 'high impact' grading.
Fogarty left the field after the bump but passed a head injury assessment (HIA) and returned to the game, possibly giving the Magpies grounds to contest the severity of the impact.
Lachie Fogarty left the field following this incident involving Dan Houston.#AFLPiesBlues pic.twitter.com/G8GVYzRKtR
— AFL (@AFL) April 3, 2025
Both players initially had eyes on the ball but Houston elected to bump Fogarty once it became apparent he wasn't going to be able to grab the football.
In the vision, Houston left the ground and the side of his arm made contact with Fogarty's head, knocking the Blue to the turf.
After the match, Houston claimed he wasn't aware of the incident until it was brought up in the post-game interview.
“I thought I had a fair play on the ball and obviously I’ve gone to protect myself and those things happen," Houston said on Channel 7.
“I didn’t actually realise it happened until you mentioned it.”
Houston missed Collingwood's first game of the season in Opening Round against GWS as he was serving the fifth game of a suspension accrued while at Port Adelaide last season.
In a similar incident to the one with Fogarty, Houston struck Adelaide's Izak Rankine with a high bump and was rubbed out for five games, effectively finishing his season before the Power's finals campaign.