Sickening development for wife of St Kilda defender Jimmy Webster

After a week of being the most hated man in Australian football, a St Kilda star has revealed horrific news about his partner.

St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster has revealed his wife has been abused on social media during his week as the most hated man in football.

The defender was on Tuesday handed a seven-week ban over his ugly bump that left North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin knocked out in their pre-season match on Sunday.

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Webster was referred directly to the tribunal after the incident where he was widely condemned despite making a heartfelt public apology.

The 30-year-old revealed there had been a sickening development during the tribunal hearing with messages being sent to his wife Richael.

The Saints star hit out at online trolls as he addressed the panel.

Himmy Webster and wife Richael. Photo: Instagram and Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“I’m happy to cop the backlash, but I’ve got a 16-month old and a wife at home,” he said.

“For them to cop it on social media, it’s obviously pretty s**t.”

St Kilda confirmed it wouldn’t appeal the decision.

“Jimmy’s actions were clearly inappropriate and are not reflective of the way we want to play, nor the modern game as a whole,” Saints footy boss David Misson said after the hearing.

“We continue to send Jy our best wishes as he undertakes his recovery, but our focus now is supporting Jimmy through this period.”

Webster again apologised to Simpkin after the hearing as well.

“I went into the hearing completely open to accepting whatever consequence the Tribunal delivered,” Webster said.

Jimmy Webster and wife Richael. Photo: Instagram, @richaelwebster.

“I wish to reiterate my remorse and again apologise to Jy for my actions.

“I will take this time on the sidelines to reflect on my actions and work hard to keep it out of my game.”

AFL 360’s Gerard Whateley said the huge ban was in line with the way the AFL had been moving.

“It’s a new age … this is an escalation that marries up with all the that we know around the way the AFL wants to combat head knocks and also marries up with the community desire for these big numbers. That’s a huge deterrent,” Whateley said.

It was not a good look. Picture: Channel 9

As the tribunal began, Webster was given a chance to address the hearing, admitting his reaction to rewatching the footage was that “I feel pretty sick about it.”

“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,” he added in his opening address.

“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.”

“I know he’s got to defend St Kilda and put up a case, but to put up it’s the same or equivalent of or in the same ballpark as Sam Powell-Pepper, that’s wrong.”

Ahead of the hearing, Simpkin was ruled out of Norths round one clash against the GWS Giants despite it being 13 days since the incident, with the club saying: “Jy’s health and wellbeing is our number one priority.”

“Given Jy’s concussion history, our medical team will take a conservative approach to his management and recovery as per the AFL’s Concussion Protocols,” the club said via a statement attributed to general manager of football Todd Viney.

“Jy came into the club today, he’s doing well and is in good spirits but his official return-to-play timeline is unclear at this point as it depends on his progress.”