Geelong coach Chris Scott hopes star forward Tom Hawkins doesn't come under scrutiny for his jumper punch on Adelaide midfielder Matt Crouch.

The incident happened late in the second quarter on Friday night, as Hawkins grabbed Crouch's jumper and struck him in the chin.

The Crow went down, but immediately got back up, and wasn't affected by the hit.

Compared to an incident in round eight that saw Richmond's Trent Cotchin strike Fremantle's Lachie Neale in the chin with a jumper punch, Hawkins' hit wasn't as forceful, but it does come less than a fortnight after AFL football operations manager Simon Lethlean asked for a crack down on punches.

Scott believes a fine is the right punishment, but is slightly concerned he could receive a bigger punishment as the AFL could use the incident to make an example of what will not be tolerated.

"We've had a look at it and I think it will be bigger than it should be or would have been if there wasn't the focus on it right at the moment," Scott said after his side's 22-point win over the Crows.

"We think this one is more of a push than anything. [We're] not sure whether they [the Match Review Panel] will share our view but we will work through that process."

Scott did admit Hawkins made contact with Crouch, but said it would be unjust if the AFL changed their grading on incidents like this one mid-season.

"We're not saying, 'Hey, he did nothing wrong'. Clearly, he did based on the vision. We're just saying in our view we're very confident it is insignificant," Scott said. 

"That is a real risk for the game [changing direction on the issue mid-season], not just in this instance, but if you change the rules and say all of a sudden everything that was OK is now not OK, you run the risk of being accused of being inconsistent.

"I would be surprised if they said that things that are very, very minor in the context of the game should now go from a penalty, which the fine is, [to a suspension]."