St Kilda forward Stephen Milne will miss Thursday’s historic AFL clash against Sydney in Wellington after accepting a one-match ban for face-gouging Essendon’s Courtenay Dempsey.
Milne risked being suspended for two matches had he unsuccessfully challenged the level-two misconduct offence from Saturday’s loss to the Bombers.
Saints coach Scott Watters labelled Milne’s action as stupid and refused to guarantee the veteran would automatically return to the senior team for the following match against Collingwood.
Milne also accepted a $3000 for engaging in a melee.
Teammates Nathan Wright, Tom Simpkin, Ahmed Saad and Jarryn Geary were hit with $1200 fines for their involvement in the skirmish after the halftime siren at Etihad Stadium.
St Kilda take on Sydney in Wellington on Thursday in the first AFL match to be played for premiership points outside Australia.