HFNL life member Peter Manoel, in his role as a tribunal member, criticised Mason during a hearing in Warrnambool on Tuesday night.

Mason told a hearing into a reserves incident that North Warrnambool Eagles veteran Xavier Mills had headbutted the Hamilton Kangaroos' reserves playing coach Lachie Mckenzie.

He went to the umpires at the first break and questioned what they were doing about the headbutt he saw.

The league president was adamant Mills headbutted Mckenzie.

"It was a deliberate action to try and headbutt someone," he said.

"It's not a good look for the sport as a whole."

Manoel told Mason, who was giving evidence by phone, only captains could speak to the umpires during the breaks.

Manoel suggested it was out of Mason's rank and position to do so.

Mills' advocate Gerard Lourey asked Mason why the league didn't initiate an investigation into the case.

"That's on me that one," Mason said.

"I didn't take any action."

Mills was found not guilty.

Earlier, Mckenzie was suspended for six weeks after pleading guilty to striking Eagles' Nathan Kenna to the face in the first quarter of the same match.

The marathon hearing centred around whether Mckenzie struck Kenna with a clenched fist or open hand.

Mckenzie described it as a "two-handed fend off".

Kenna called it a "solid punch with a clenched fist".

The Eagles player is set to miss the rest of the season after his surgeon told him he shouldn't play for three months due to injuries sustained from the incident.

Mckenzie can coach from the sidelines for the rest of the season.

The tribunals resulted from two independent investigations launched after the round eight clash in June.

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