Key Roos fined, Demon banned by AFL MRP

North Melbourne star Ben Cunnington is free to play against Carlton after the AFL match review panel offered him a fine for his gut punch to Melbourne's Bernie Vince.

The Kangaroos' fiery win over the Demons reignited debate over off-the-ball blows to the midriff and jumper punches, with AFL chief executive Gill McLachlan expressing a desire to stamp out the practice.

Vince had to leave the field briefly and was dry-retching on the interchange bench after Cunnington felled him during the second quarter at the MCG on Sunday.

North coach Brad Scott was adamant that the MRP had already set a precedent with similar incidents and his confidence Cunnington wouldn't be banned proved well-founded.

"The MRP have made their stance pretty clear on things like that," Scott said after the match.

"Unless they make a public statement that they're not going to tolerate that anymore then they have to tolerate it until they do."

Cunnington can accept a $1000 fine with an early guilty plea after the incident was assessed as intentional conduct with low impact to the body.

The Demons clearly tried to put pressure on North's Shaun Higgins from the opening bounce and that triggered a series of spot fires, before the game settled down in the second half.

Higgins can accept a fine for striking young Demon Clayton Oliver, while Melbourne defender Christian Salem was offered a one-match ban for striking Higgins.

Salem's elbow to Higgins' face was assessed as intentional conduct with low impact to the head, which draws a two-match ban that drops back to one with an early guilty plea.

Salem was the only player offered a suspension after the MRP's assessment of round nine action.

Essendon's Joe Daniher, Sydney's Kurt Tippett and Carlton's Patrick Cripps can all accept fines.

Geelong's Joel Selwood and Sydney's Callum Mills were scrutinised for incidents involving the Western Bulldogs' Tom Boyd and St Kilda's Jack Newnes respectively, but no action was taken.