Carlton coach Brett Ratten concedes the Blues are unlikely to appeal skipper Chris Judd’s four-week AFL ban for his now-infamous chicken-wing tackle.

The AFL tribunal belted Judd with a hefty suspension on Tuesday night for lifting and twisting the arm of North Melbourne forward Leigh Adams while the Kangaroos player was pinned face-down in a tackle.

Adams needed treatment for a popped shoulder after the incident.

Judd’s manager Paul Connors has slammed the verdict on Wednesday, blaming AFL interference and pre-tribunal comments from match review panel chairman Mark Fraser for the star’s lengthy ban.

“I just find it outrageous, the vitriol about Chris,” Connors told Melbourne radio station SEN.

“You’ve got the head of the match review panel making comments about the case before it’s even heard.

“I just can’t remember that happening before, where Mark Fraser goes on afl.com talking about it.

“Then you’ve got the head of football Adrian Anderson – if he hasn’t been speaking to Fraser and telling the world why this had to go direct to the tribunal, I’ll go ‘he’.

“It’s just another case of AFL interference for mine.”

Connors said he believed it had been impossible for Judd to get a fair hearing over the incident in the circumstances.

The Blues have until late Wednesday morning to decide whether to appeal the ban, and football manager Andrew McKay and chief executive Greg Swann have been meeting to decide whether to take the matter to the appeals board.

But while strenuously defending Judd’s character and blaming “bad technique” for the look of the tackle, Ratten cast doubt on whether the Blues would fight the ban.

“That’s up to Andy and Greg to see where we go with that, but I doubt whether we push on with an appeal,” Ratten said.