St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster is fronting the AFL Tribunal ready to receive one of the longest suspensions in recent memory for his bump on North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin. Live below!

Webster left Simpkin concussed, collecting the Roos’ co-captain with his shoulder after Simpkin had disposed of the ball in the opening quarter of Sunday’s practice match.

The AFL has asked for an eight-match ban, which would make it the equal-longest since Andrew Gaff’s eight-week ban in 2018 for striking Andrew Brayshaw.

The only place to watch every game of the AFL season live is Fox Footy, available on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >

NEW FOX FOOTY PODCAST – 2024 is here! All 18 clubs previewed

The Saints pled guilty with Webster saying: “I’m really sorry about what happened on Sunday. It’s something I’m not proud of – I’ve left a lot of people down.

“My main concern is for Jy to get back to playing footy and I really hope he’s OK. I understand how bad concussions are and how much we want to see them stamped out of the game.”

Asked why he jumped off the ground he replied: “I haven’t got an excuse.”

Webster had not watched the footage back until the hearing, saying he felt “pretty sick about it”, but was concerned about the criticism his family members have received.

“I’m happy to cop the backlash, but I’ve got a 16-month old and a wife at home. For them to cop it on social media, it’s obviously pretty shit,” he said.

Andrew Woods, representing the AFL, argued the hit was not intentional but “at the higher end of carelessness”.

“(From a couple of steps out after his arm drops down), it’s clear he’s not going to get the ball or be able to smother the kick,” Woods said, with Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson disputing that based on Webster’s evidence he could’ve tried to smother.

“At that point the decision is made.

“You see the turn of the body, the left arm tucking in … the result of that arm coming in and that turn of the body for the bump is that you see the pretty significant movement of Simpkin’s head.

“Simpkin seems to see what’s about to occur a moment before it does, after he’s disposed of the ball.”

He added: “This is at the higher end of carelessness. Intention isn’t alleged but a clear decision was made to leave the ground and tuck the arm in. It’s very significantly careless given his speed and player Simpkin’s momentum.

“You need to think about what Webster knew and could’ve been expected to know about Simpkin’s vulnerability … it really can’t be said that a player in Simpkin’s position should be reasonably expecting that type of contact, or doing anything about it.”

The incident and its likely sanction was heavily discussed over the last 24 hours.

“Every player in the AFL would know crystal clear that’s not allowed and not to be done. It’s a brain fade, not the smartest thing to do. Obviously Jimmy would’ve had great regret after it but it comes down to the penalty now,” Jonathan Brown told Fox Footy’s On The Couch.

“I’m not sure there’s gonna be much difference between five or 10 weeks, the impact it has on the playing group. Find me a player that thinks that situation is actually ok.”

Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said of the ban: “It’s going to be a big whack. I reckon about eight weeks is the median.”

In a statement on Monday, Webster expressed his remorse at his action.

“I deeply regret my actions in yesterday’s game. I’ve reached out to Jy and cannot overstate my remorse,” he said.

“My thoughts are with Jy and his family, and I hope he has a speedy and successful recovery. I fully recognise the importance of protecting players’ heads and in this instance, I failed to meet that much-needed standard.

“I will present to the Tribunal and understand there will be consequences for my actions.”

Webster’s absence would add to an availability shortage for the Saints in defence, with the club confirming on Tuesday key defender Dougal Howard will miss more than a month of football after suffering a left hamstring injury.

Meanwhile Simpkin has been ruled out of North Melbourne’s Round 1 clash in 11 days’ time with GWS given it was his third concussion in 12 month.

Follow the AFL Tribunal from 5pm AEDT in the blog below! Can’t see the blog? Tap here.