Shane Mumford offered one-match ban for striking Sydney’s George Hewett in practice match

GWS will challenge Shane Mumford’s one-match ban for striking Swan George Hewett in a practice match last week, a suspension that has already confused teammate Brett Deledio.

GWS ruckman Shane Mumford has been offered a one-match ban for striking Swan George Hewett. Picture: Getty Images

GWS Giants have confirmed they will challenge Shane Mumford’s AFL ban for striking at the tribunal tomorrow night.

As flagged by The Daily Telegraph, the Giants’ legal representatives are confident they can win a downgrade for the star ruckman in Melbourne that would allow him to escape without suspension and be back on the field for round three of the competition.

The AFL match review committee charged Mumford with low grade intentional striking but Giants officials are emboldened by the fact they have little to lose by lodging a challenge in Melbourne tomorrow night.

It’s understood the Giants’ legal eagles are mounting a defence based on two possible avenues where Mumford could potentially seek a downgrade to avoid suspension, with the focus on the grading of the impact and also on whether it should have been deemed ‘intentional’.

Had Mumford taken the early guilty plea the ramifications would have been far worse than the one-week the AFL is offering for the clumsy strike on Sydney Swans’ midfielder George Hewett in last Friday’s sleepy trial game at Blacktown.

Shane Mumford has been offered a one-match ban for striking Swan George Hewett.

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Mumford is already banned from the opening two weeks of the competition over the emergence of old footage showing him snorting a white substance, so an additional suspension would also rub him out of a round three blockbuster against heavyweights Richmond at Spotless Stadium.

The Giants must already tackle Essendon and premiers West Coast without Mumford in a tough early draw, and the prospect of losing him for the best part of a month when trying to set a foundation for the year could prove a significant blow to their season hopes.

As a result, there is little risk in the Giants challenging for a downgrade at the tribunal in Melbourne given the club would only cop a $10,000 fine if unsuccessful.

The independent panel is highly unlikely to consider upgrading the charge on the night and there is no threat of an extra week on the sidelines if the appeal is rejected.

The Giants may argue that the impact was so low that no suspension is warranted, pointing to the fact Hewett leapt straight to his feet uninjured moments after impact and even turned back and smiled at Mumford with no remonstrating from any other Swans players.

The level below ‘low impact’ at the AFL tribunal doesn’t constitute an offence that would bring a ban and would simply incur a slap on the wrist.

Shane Mumford at GWS training. Picture: Phil Hillyard

GWS may also choose to argue that the incident shouldn’t have been characterised as ‘intentional’ but rather reckless or careless, which could also see Mumford downgraded to a fine.

Hewett appeared to have Mumford in a soft headlock when Mumford lashed out, potentially adding further context to the seriousness of the reaction.

The AFL has made clear they’re cracking down on contact with the head and Mumford himself acknowledged after the trial game that he would need to be careful about the way he approaches contests.

GWS must decide whether Mumford – coming out of his injury-forced retirement in 2017 – will play in either of the club’s JLT Cup pre-season matches given he won’t be available for the first part of the season proper regardless the result of his citing by the AFL.

All suspensions handed down in trial matches must be served during the regular season.

Originally published as Shane Mumford offered one-match ban for striking Sydney’s George Hewett in practice match