Brownlow blow as Sydney Swan Isaac Heeney handed one-match ban

Isaac Heeney’s Brownlow Medal hopes hang in the balance after the star Sydney forward was offered a one-match ban for striking, while Adelaide’s Izak Rankine was slapped with a four-match suspension.

Heeney was the favourite to win the AFL’s best and fairest gong this season, but his off-the-ball strike means he is now ineligible unless the Swans successfully overturn the charge at the AFL Tribunal.

The Swans ace was punished for his swinging back-hand fend on a stumbling Jimmy Webster that caught the St Kilda defender in the face and drew blood from his nose.

Webster was on his haunches for a few seconds after the hit, with Heeney, pictured, able to run clear, mark and goal before checking on his opponent.

High fends this season are deemed intentional, rather than careless, leading AFL Hall of Famer Leigh Matthews to tell Channel Nine, “you do the crime, you do the time”.

Rankine copped four weeks for his off-the-ball bump on Brandon Starcevich that resulted in the Lions defender being subbed out of the game with concussion.

Starcevich seemed unaware the contact was coming, with the AFL clamping down hard on such bumps in a bid to protect players from concussion.

The incident was assessed as intentional conduct, severe impact and high contact.

Unless he is able to downgrade the ban at the tribunal, he will miss games against St Kilda, Essendon, Hawthorn and Geelong.

In a sad post-script, Rankine was racially abused on social media by a Brisbane Lions member. Brisbane responded by cancelling that person’s membership. Rankine was booed by Lions supporters following his bump on Starcevich.

Meanwhile, Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has escaped sanction for his passionate F-bomb Hardwick was left fuming after his team blew the perfect opportunity to end their hoodoo on the road during a shock four-point loss to lowly North Melbourne.

“As a footy club, we’ve got to grow the f... up, to be perfectly honest. Excuse the language, but we’ve been in this situation too many times.”

AFL footy boss Laura Kane confirmed on Monday that Hardwick wouldn’t be punished for swearing during the post-match press conference.

But she hinted the veteran coach had been given an unofficial talking-to. “We clearly don’t encourage that kind of language or behaviour in our press conferences, but the game is passionate and I think what we saw is a passionate coach who is invested in his players.” she said.