North Melbourne AFL coach Brad Scott and Brian Lake have looked to draw a line under the Hawthorn defender's infamous scrap with Drew Petrie.
Lake was suspended for four games on Tuesday after having his misconduct charge sent directly to the tribunal.
The panel was unswayed by Lake's evidence that he was not trying to grab Petrie's throat last Friday night, but rather his jumper around the collarbone area.
Scott was unwilling to offer his opinion about Lake's ban or actions - a self-admittedly reserved approach for a coach who is known for being anything but.
"That's a question for Drew. Drew hasn't told me and it's irrelevant to me," Scott said on Wednesday when asked if Lake had apologised to Petrie.
"It's not really for me to comment. There's going to be plenty of opinion about that (Lake's ban)."
Lake later released a video message to Hawthorn supporters on the club website, saying he did not mean to cause Petrie any harm.
"And thankfully, that was the case," he said.
"Having three kids of my own, I know it's not a great look for the game of AFL football and it's something I definitely don't want to be remembered for."
Before Lake's case, Petrie fronted the tribunal for making unreasonable and unnecessary contact to the face of the 2013 Norm Smith medallist.
The forward escaped with a reprimand for lashing out at Lake, but was not stung with any carryover points as the match review panel had intended.
"We wanted to defend Drew at the tribunal and make sure that he went into the back half of the year without anything hanging over his head," Scott said.
The Kangaroos face St Kilda in Hobart on Saturday, while Lake will miss games against Adelaide, Sydney, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne.
"When I get back, I hope you guys see a bigger and better Brian Lake," Lake said in his message, thanking fans for their support.
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