North Melbourne coach Brad Scott believes the AFL Tribunal's decision to uphold Jack Ziebell's suspension for his clash with Carlton's Aaron Joseph was a 'sad day' for the game.
Ziebell was cited by the Match Review Panel on Monday for his collision with Joseph on Friday night which left the Blue concussed and cut short his evening, and the North Melbourne midfielder was offered a four-match ban which could have been reduced to three with an early guilty plea.
The Kangaroos took the decision to the AFL Tribunal, and the original four-game ban was upheld, ruling him out of crucial matches against Richmond, Melbourne, the Western Bulldogs and Essendon.
Scott said Ziebell was gutted by the decision, which he said struck at the very fabric of the sport.
"He's devastated," Scott said before training at Arden Street on Thursday.
"It was a line ball between Jack and I who was more disappointed and Jack was devastated, so that might give you an indication as to the way I felt.
"It was a bitterly disappointing day and a really sad day, in my mind, for AFL football.
"It strikes at the heart of what this game's about. Since I've been involved in footy, my whole life, I've never, ever seen a player get suspended for making the ball his sole objective.
"I lost sleep over the Ziebell decision, not only for Jack Ziebell and North Melbourne, but for the game.
"When a player's making the ball his sole objective, that's a key component of our game - it has been and I thought, in my lifetime, it would always be."
Scott said this decision had the capacity to change the approach of some of the game's most exciting players.
"What they're saying now is 'yep, we acknowledge that he was contesting it, but did he have a reasonable alternative?' Well, yeah he did have a reasonable alternative - he could have stopped, waited for Joseph to get the ball and tackled him," Scott said.
"But I think we've got to ask ourselves the question - do we want Jonathan Brown recklessly attacking the ball, running with the flight of the ball, trying to mark it? I think it's something we want in our game - we want Nick Riewoldt doing the same thing.
"To suggest that there was a reasonable alternative is to suggest that those sort of players shouldn't be so adamant in their attack on the ball.
"Perhaps we need to re-write the coaching manual, go back and tell players it's not about keeping your eyes on the ball and attacking it with ferocity - it's about making sure you don't hurt your opponent."
Scott said Ziebell would be sent for some high-intensity training in Utah during his enforced lay-off, and was adamant the club had no shortage of quality replacements for the rugged 21-year-old.
"We'll send him off to Utah, we've got a terrific relationship with the US ski team," Scott said.
"They train some of the best endurance athletes in the world, with all their cross-country skiers. At this time of year it's 28 degrees and perfect, so Jack'll get a nice little northern hemisphere summer and a really solid training block to make sure he comes back in pristine condition.
"In terms of covering Jack, Ben Cunnington's in great form, Levi Greenwood's a terrific hard-ball player. Cruize Garlett's been in great form as well. I'd be disappointed if the loss of Jack Ziebell cost us a place in the finals, I think we've got better depth than that."
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