Football great Leigh Matthews says Sydney superstar Isaac Heeney's Brownlow hopes are over, confident his act against St Kilda's Jimmy Webster will be given a suspension.
The Swans face a nervous wait for the MRO to make a call on Heeney's fend off on Webster, during their two-point loss to St Kilda on Sunday afternoon at Marvel Stadium.
Heeney was being tagged by Webster, when the Swans star threw an arm back in an attempt to shake off his opponent.
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The midfielder moved his right arm and flung it into Webster's face, as he led for the ball in the Swans' forward 50.
Webster went down after the off-the-ball hit, with the St Kilda crowd heard booing when Heeney then got the mark in front of goal seconds later.
The Saints defender copped a blood nose from the incident.
Under the AFL's new rules that were brought in during the off-season, Heeney's high fend-off will likely be judged by the MRO as intentional.
"In instances where a player intends to forcefully push or fend an opposition player off the ball, the strike will usually be graded as intentional, rather than careless," journalist Tom Morris clarified on Nine's Footy Furnace on Sunday night.
It means that Heeney could be slapped with a one-week suspension, if his act is graded as intentional, low impact and high contact.
A suspension would rule Heeney out of the Brownlow Medal race this year, for which he had been favourite.
Matthews weighed in on the incident, holding little sympathy for the Swans star.
"For Isaac Heeney to throw his hand back … that was a bit too … careless and incidental for me. I think he's guilty," Matthews said.
"It was more than a fend off. He threw his arm back.
"You do these things, you do the crime, you do the time."
Sydney will find out if Heeney has any case to answer on Monday.
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