GWS Giants star Toby Greene is likely to be wiped out of the 2019 AFL Finals series after being sent straight to the tribunal for serious misconduct in Saturday’s win over the Western Bulldogs.

Greene will face the tribunal on Monday night, rather than the usual Tuesday sitting.

Greene was observed during the first quarter to make contact with his hands to Marcus Bontempelli’s face in an incident that has since drawn intense scrutiny.

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The direct referral to the tribunal indicates that a significant punishment is likely, and with the Giants facing elimination as soon as next Saturday night, even a short ban may end Greene’s season.

What seems more likely is that Green could be ruled out for three or more weeks, which would make it an absolute certainty that he does not feature again in 2019, and likely misses at least some of the start of season 2020.

Dayne Zorko and Dylan Grimes both received fines for staging during the qualifying final played at the Gabba on Saturday night.

Both incidents occurred in the first quarter, with the Grimes action widely argued to have prevented the Lions from scoring what would’ve been the first goal of the match.

Harry Himmelberg and Zaine Cordy were both fined for striking offences, against Marcus Bontempelli and Matt De Boer respectively.

Matt Suckling was also fined for forceful front-on conduct.



Earlier in the week, it was confirmed that Nic Naitanui and Zach Merrett would face fines only for an incident in Thursday’s elimination final.

Merrett was seen to pull Naitanui’s hair, after which Naitanui flung him into the fence. The incident sparked a melee between the rival teams.

Greene appears to be the only player potentially facing a ban which could prevent him from lining up in his team’s next final.

The Giants will play Brisbane at the Gabba on Saturday night, with the winner going on to a preliminary final against Collingwood the next Saturday.