MELBOURNE will head to the Tribunal to appeal the three-match ban handed to Jacob van Rooyen for his accidental hit that concussed Port Adelaide defender Aliir Aliir on Saturday night.
The Demons forward's swinging arm collected Aliir in the head as he went to spoil a mark late in the second quarter of Melbourne's 76-point win over the Power at Adelaide Oval.
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Unless the Demons are successful at the Tribunal, van Rooyen is set to miss the game against the Western Bulldogs in the final round on Saturday, as well as the Demons' first two finals.
Aliir hit the ground and did not move for several seconds, before eventually being helped to his feet by trainers and walking from the field.
However, he failed his subsequent HIA test and did not return to the field in his 200th game.
The Match Review Officer graded the incident careless, high contact and severe impact, leading to van Rooyen being offered a three-game ban.
Van Rooyen booted two goals as the Demons ran out comfortable winners against Port to keep themselves entrenched in the top six with one round left and his absence is a massive blow to the Dees' hopes of going deep in September.
Speaking post-match on Saturday night, Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr said he didn't believe there was any malice in van Rooyen's actions.
"I can see how it happens. Obviously it didn't look great but I didn't think it was overly malice either," Carr said.
Elsewhere, Collingwood's Beau McCreery has been fined $5000 for careless umpire contact, his third such offence this season and the Magpies' fifth offence, putting them at risk of a big fine from the AFL.
