Adelaide’s Richard Douglas has been suspended for two games for his off-the-ball bump on Greater Western Sydney co-captain Callan Ward.

Douglas will in effect miss three weeks of football, with the Crows’ bye coming in round eight after their clashes with Western Bulldogs and Melbourne.

Douglas’ case was referred directly to the tribunal, with the match review panel opting against grading the hit that left Ward concussed and unable to play out the match.

After hearing the evidence of Douglas and emergency umpire Curtis DeBoy, the panel declared the hit was reckless, high contact and high impact.

Had the match review panel judged the hit as such, Douglas would have been hit with a four-match suspension (425 points) that could have been reduced to two weeks on account of his good record and a guilty plea.

Douglas pled guilty to the charge of rough conduct at the start of proceedings, prior to the specifics of the charge being debated in the case, and the panel agreed 250 demerit points (two games) was the correct penalty.