Geelong defender Matthew Scarlett faces a certain suspension after punching Fremantle antagonist Hayden Ballantyne in the Dockers' thrilling four-point AFL win at Patersons Stadium on Saturday night.
A frustrated Scarlett clocked Ballantyne on the chin with a left hook 10 minutes into the third quarter after a night in which the Dockers goalsneak continually infuriated Geelong players.
Although the glancing punch only momentarily stunned Ballantyne, Scarlett is almost certain to be handed a multi-week suspension by the AFL's match review panel.
Ballantyne will also come under scrutiny for his off-the-ball strike on Paul Chapman, which left the Geelong midfielder on his haunches and throwing up.
Chapman recovered and played out the match, but the Dockers prevailed 16.9 (105) to 15.11 (101) courtesy of two late goals to skipper Matthew Pavlich.
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Ballantyne was a constant menace throughout the match, with his tit-for-tat battle with Steve Johnson preceding Scarlett's punch.
Scarlett vented his anger at Ballantyne's tactics to Pavlich at quarter time.
But the Geelong veteran took action into his own hands in the third quarter when Ballantyne got into his face following a goal to Tendai Mzungu.
Ballantyne got a goal from the resultant free kick, and finished the match with 20 possessions and two goals.
Dockers midfielder Nat Fyfe, defender Michael Johnson and ruckman Aaron Sandilands were crucial in the win, while Geelong were well served by forward Tom Hawkins (four goals), skipper Joel Selwood and James Bartel (three goals).
The match also featured several big hits, with Johnson cleaned up by Clancee Pearce and Mathew Stokes left dazed following a big hit from Zac Dawson.
Fremantle started life under new coach Ross Lyon in brilliant fashion, booting the opening five goals of the match to race out to a 30-0 lead inside 14 minutes.
But Geelong, fielding 17 of last year's 22 premiership stars, worked their way back into the contest, with strong work from James Podsiadly and Hawkins up forward giving the visitors a five-point lead by half-time.
In a topsy-turvy final quarter, the lead changed hands four times before Pavlich's heroics at the death.
To compound Geelong's woes, James Podsiadly was reported for striking Nick Suban in the first quarter and James Kelly also went into the book for striking Tendai Mzungu.
Geelong coach Chris Scott admitted his side were sucked in by Ballantyne's niggling tactics.
"His niggling - that's within the rules," Scott said.
"You're allowed to get into people's faces, you're allowed to say nasty things to them, you're allowed to press your head underneath their chin, and the rules say you can't react.
"I don't have a problem with the way he plays. If it was 30 years ago, you wouldn't be able to do that."
Fremantle coach Ross Lyon tried to play down Ballantyne's niggling, saying both sides were ill disciplined at times.
"Round one's an emotional game and there's bodies flying and there's niggle," Lyon said.
"I think both sides gave away some free kicks through lack of discipline. That was costly. I think both coaches would be unhappy with that. I know I am."
