Port Adelaide are weighing up whether to make a high-stakes challenge to Hamish Hartlett's controversial AFL ban.
Hartlett has been given a three-match suspension by the AFL match review panel, reduced to two games with an early guilty plea.
The influential midfielder was charged with rough conduct for his bump which knocked out Gold Coast defender Seb Tape during Saturday's game.
If Port accept the ban, Hartlett will miss the last two games before the finals.
But if they challenge the verdict and fail, he will miss the opening finals match should Port retain their grip on eighth spot.
The Power have until Tuesday afternoon to decide but are likely to accept the suspension, given the ramifications of losing any appeal.
Adding complexity to the scenario is Hartlett dislocated his left shoulder against the Suns and it's uncertain when he will play again, regardless of the outcome of his rough conduct charge.
Hartlett has avoided initial fears that the injury may end his season and will be assessed again by medicos later in the week.
"Hammer is a little bit sore but he's a tough little kid so I think he'll be alright," Hartlett's teammate Matthew Lobbe told reporters on Monday.
Lobbe said Hartlett, in his shepherd of Tape, clashed heads with the Suns player.
"Hamish attacks the footy hard and we don't want him to stop doing that, it was probably unlucky that they clashed heads and he ended up getting those two weeks," he said.
Lobbe, who has signed a two-year contract extension to remain at Port until the end of 2015, said Hartlett's case highlighted uncertainty about the bump.
"There is still times for the bump but probably you're a lot safer to tackle, I reckon, in most incidents," he said.
"But you still want your teammates blocking for you when you have got the ball.
"It's a little bit grey. But it's pretty obvious when you clash heads and someone gets knocked out that it's not a good thing."
