Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says a six-to-eight week suspension for Jaidyn Stephenson would have been fair, describing the youngster’s betting indiscretion as an “innocent mistake”.

Speaking on SEN on Thursday morning, the day after Stephenson was suspended for 10 matches (plus a 12-game suspended sentence) for placing three bets on recent Magpies games totalling $36, Buckley said he was proud of the way the club had handled the situation.

In particular Buckley praised the leadership of Jeremy Howe - who raised concerns with Stephenson after the round nine win over St Kilda having overheard a throwaway line from Stephenson in the rooms about a teammate costing him money - and football department chief Geoff Walsh.

Buckley said that as soon as he became aware that Stephenson hadn’t match-fixed, there was no thought of standing the second-year forward down for the period of the investigation.