An ill-disciplined act by Carlton recruit Will Hayward during the third quarter of the club's Good Friday clash against North Melbourne could land the hybrid forward in hot water.
Hayward collected Kangaroos' George Wardlaw late after the young Roo kicked the ball inside 50.
With a closed fist, Hayward's arm struck Wardlaw's stomach/rib cage, leading to a down the field free kick and goal to North Melbourne skipper Nick Larkey.
While Wardlaw continued to play out the game, the AFL is trying to eradicate such acts from the league and could look to suspend Hayward - formerly of the Sydney Swans - for one game.
The match review officer will likely look into the incident.
The AFL has updated its ruling on acts such as these for the 2026 season. The law reads "Intentional Strikes to a victim player's body or head will usually be classified as Medium Impact at a minimum (resulting in at least a one-match sanction), rather than the previous grading as Low Impact."
If Hayward is to be suspended rather than fined, Carlton will argue that the outcome was low impact as evidenced by Wardlaw staying on the ground and playing out the match.
Carlton will be desperately hoping not to lose Hayward for its match on Thursday against Adelaide at Adelaide Oval to kick off Gather Round, given the Blues will already be without injured key defenders Jacob Weitering and Harry Dean (both concussion).
