Salisbury North's Callum Hay appeals SAAFL life ban for contact with umpire and rough contact

FORMER Port Adelaide Power rookie Callum Hay is appealing a life ban from the SA Amateur Football League after being hit with two separate suspensions.

FORMER Port Adelaide Power rookie Callum Hay is appealing a life ban from the SA Amateur Football League after being hit with two separate suspensions.

Hay, now with Salisbury North, was last night found guilty of making contact with an umpire and also engaging in rough conduct during the division one grand final replay against Rostrevor Old Collegians at Thebarton Oval on September 27.

He was slapped with a nine-week ban for making contact with the umpire and a six-week suspension for the other incident following league video evidence.

The club lodged an appeal against both bans this morning.

Under SAAFL rules, players suspended for 12 or more matches are banned for life from the amateur league.

It is understood Hay, 21, can continue to play in other competitions because he has not reached the 16-game threshold of football's national deregistration policy that has been adopted by the SANFL and many country leagues.

SAAFL football operations manager John Kernahan would not comment on the details of the case because of the appeal.

He said its timing could mean it "plays out over the course of a month".

But Kernahan said the league made no apologies for its tough stance on handing down penalties.

"We're the toughest of any league in Australia on this type of stuff," Kernahan said.

The case will be heard by a league appeal panel.

Hay's teammate Leigh Stones was also suspended last night for striking in the same game.

Hawks coach Eugene Warrior and captain Joseph Hay are due to front the tribunal next Wednesday for abusing an umpire and engaging in a melee respectively.