Essendon defender Mason Redman and Hawthorn captain James Sicily have both been handed one-match suspensions for their rough conduct during the Bombers 24-point win on Saturday.
Tensions were high from the first minute at the MCG for the round one clash.
It began with Sicily hip-and-shouldering Essendon's Andrew McGrath after the Bombers began celebrating Matt Guelfi's goal in the first term.
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Sicily then kicked McGrath, causing him to flip and land on his back, before teammates came to his aid and pounced on the Hawks defender.
The Hawks leader's action has been graded as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact, which equates to a week on the sidelines as a punishment.
There is no early plea available for Sicily to take, meaning he will need to visit the Tribunal if he wishes to fight the sanction.
Meanwhile, Redman has also come under fire after he connected with Hawk Jai Newcombe's jaw in another melee that broke out in the second quarter.
Redman has been charged with striking with no early plea option, with the action graded as intentional conduct, low impact and high contact.
He'll also need to face the Tribunal if he and the club are keen to fight the charge.
Redman's strike has been likened to a strike from Carlton's George Hewett in Opening Round on Lion Lachie Neale.
It was a similar action to Redman's, with Hewett also striking an opposition player's jaw.
However, Hewett was simply offered and accepted a $2500 fine, despite his hit looking quite damning under the league's new strengthened MRO regulations and tribunal guidelines on smothers, run-down tackles and striking.
The new rules state that players should be further deterred to strike this season, with the AFL adapting to grade hits as "intentional rather than careless".
These include when a player seeks "to fend and push their opponent" or "where a player intends to forcefully push or fend an opposition player off the ball (including to gain separation for the purpose of contesting the ball)" that causes a "strike".
Despite Hewett receiving a fine, Redman's similar strike has constituted a one week suspension, which has caused uproar across the league.
Former AFL player Nathan Brownargued that match review officer Michael Christian "could not" punish the Bomber with a week off considering how they handled Hewett's situation.
"They could not give (Redman) a week after what happened last week," Brown said on Nine's Sunday Footy Show.
Leading journalist Damian Barrett believes the situation has been "muddied" by the league's weak punishment for Hewett.
"It looks pretty clear cut and under the changes to the rules in the off-season with any form of contact to the head — to me, I think it would have merited a week off," Barrett added.
"But we saw last week George Hewett make contact with Lachie Neale (and avoid suspension) and I think that has muddied the situation before they adjudicate that in round one."
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