North Melbourne forward Lindsay Thomas has apologised to his AFL teammates for the headbutt which could put their season into a tailspin.
Thomas has accepted a two-match ban for headbutting Greater Western Sydney youngster Jacob Townsend in the Kangaroos’ 86-point win at the weekend.
But in the middle of his best-ever season, Thomas will now miss the important clash with Richmond at Etihad Stadium on Saturday – which is set to shape whether his side can make the AFL finals.
The Kangaroos are currently 12th with a 5-8 win-loss record and must win the games against the Tigers and Brisbane the following week, which Thomas will also miss, to keep their slim finals hopes alive.
Kangaroos star Brent Harvey says Thomas will not face any internal club punishment for his brain-fade.
He says Thomas fronted teammates the day after the match to say sorry.
“It was silly, but Lindsay got on the front foot and spoke to us boys on Monday and said it was a really silly thing to do,” Harvey said on Tuesday.
“He was very disappointed. We were very disappointed with Lindsay. The consequence is he’s going to miss two weeks, and two very important weeks.”
Harvey and North teammates helped run the club’s annual Harvey’s Heroes school holiday coaching clinics at the club’s Aegis Park headquarters on Tuesday.
Nearly 1,000 children turned up for the event.