Camperdown star Fraser Lucas cops two-week ban for coat-hanger on Warrnambool opponent

Lucas, 25, was originally offered a one-match ban for carelessly striking Ludeman, but the Magpies defender elected to contest the charge on Tuesday night.

Reporting field umpire Casey O'Keefe reviewed footage of the incident from the third quarter of Saturday's Hampden league game.

O'Keefe upgraded the charge from careless to intentionally striking, which carried a heavier penalty.

"It's a disappointing result," Lucas told The Standard after the tribunal.

"We came down here thinking we had a good case to at least avoid a one-week suspension and at worst case get a severe reprimand.

"So for them to upgrade the charge is not the result we were hoping for.

"There's no frustration, I've had a fair hearing, it just hasn't fallen my way."

Lucas was represented by Anthony Foster in front of the league tribunal, made up of Brian Mathers, Rob Anderson and Peter Manoel.

O'Keefe told the panel Lucas used his left arm to hit Ludeman with a "forceful round-arm action" to the face and the Blues player went down holding his head.

The field umpire gave Lucas a yellow card and reported him before awarding a free kick and 50-metre penalty to Warrnambool.

Ludeman said he was hit in the jaw. "I knew someone was coming but didn't expect to get hit that high," he said.

The Blues player said while he didn't know who struck him, Lucas approached him in the fourth quarter to apologise.

Lucas, who had never previously been reported, said there was nothing personal in the contact.

"I didn't mean to make high contact with Tom," he said. "I attempted to make contact with his body and it was just a pure motion that hit his arm, slipped up and got him high."

The suspension means sixth-placed Camperdown will be without Lucas for its games against third-placed North Warrnambool Eagles on Saturday and fourth-placed Port Fairy on May 11.

Lucas, one of five Magpies players selected in the Hampden league's 45-man interleague squad picked to take on Ballarat along with Jason Robinson, Riley Arnold, Matt Field and Jack Williams, will be available for the May 18 clash.

"No doubt it will affect my chances, but that's a conversation I'll have with Browny (coach Jonathan Brown," he said.

Moyston Willaura's Brad Bond, who pleaded not guilty, received a four-week suspension for kneeing Woorndoo Mortlake's Mitchell Jubb in the Mininera and District league on Saturday.

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