Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley is among a growing list of AFL greats who expect Western Bulldogs defender Zaine Cordy to be cleared over the bump that left GWS youngster Tanner Bruhn concussed.
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Cordy will front the tribunal on Tuesday night after being referred directly by the match review officer.
The incident was left ungraded, leaving Cordy's fate entirely in the hands of the tribunal as he seeks the green light to play in the Bulldogs' must-win clash with Hawthorn on Sunday.
Cordy made shoulder-to-shoulder contact with Bruhn within five metres of the ball during last Saturday's contest at Marvel Stadium.
Bruhn's head whipped forward on impact but it is unclear whether the concussion was caused by the bump or his head hitting the ground when he fell.
"I can't see how that is an act that is going to be taken out of the game," Buckley said on SEN radio.
"I understand the after the fact, and I understand that there's a concussion that's occurred.
"But I don't know what else that player, Cordy, was supposed to do and what he's expected to do in that situation."
The Cordy case comes just days after Carlton captain Patrick Cripps won his appeal against a two-match ban over a collision that left Brisbane's Callum Ah Chee concussed.
The suspension offered by the match review officer was initially upheld by the tribunal but later overturned by the appeals aboard.
St Kilda midfielder Brad Crouch was handed a one-match ban for his late bump that caught Brisbane defender Darcy Gardiner high last Friday night.
But that case was much more clear-cut than Cordy's clash with Bruhn.
Former Brisbane champion Jonathan Brown said Bruhn's concussion clouded the issue.
"We have just got to be careful every time there is an action and a player gets a concussion the other player gets wiped out (with suspension)," Brown said on Fox Footy.
"We have just got to look at the incident for what it is. Is it a football incident? We have to look at the action first and foremost.
"If it's in play we need to look at the action before we hang the person because the other person got concussion."
Cordy's bump was a "classic hip and shoulder", according to former Hawthorn and Melbourne midfielder Jordan Lewis.
"I didn't see any head contact so for me that is play on and he's free to play next week," Lewis said on Fox Footy.
"I understand there is concussion and it's been made public after the incident but is it when he hits the ground? Because the collision didn't suggest he hit him in the head at any stage."
Australian Associated Press
