Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley described Tom Jonas's collision with Jai Culley as "instinctive" and "accidental" but the Power captain faces certain scrutiny from the match review officer following a 40-point victory against West Coast.
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Late in the first half of Port's 16.13 (109) to 10.9 (69) win at Adelaide Oval, Jonas crunched heads with Culley after electing to bump the young Eagle, leaving him sporting a shiner near his left eye socket.
After being assessed, Culley completed the game, booting three of his team-high four goals after halftime, but MRO Michael Christian this season has shown a tendency to upgrade incidents on their potential to cause injury.
"From ground level, which I was at again today, I saw a head clash which is an unfortunate part of the game," Hinkley said.
"That was an instinctive action.
"It was just a collision that happens in games of football, but there is some risk with that because we've seen what's going on.
"On the incident, we should pass on the message that the player stayed on the ground and got through the whole game.
"I think that's really important to remember too with accidental head clashes."
While Jonas faces an anxious wait, forward Todd Marshall will certainly miss Friday night's blockbuster against ladder-leading St Kilda at Marvel Stadium.
Marshall was substituted out with concussion midway through the second period after his head accidentally collided with Liam Duggan's shoulder.
Connor Rozee (29 disposals, two goals) claimed his second successive Peter Badcoe VC Medal as best-afield, while Jeremy Finlayson (five goals) and Willem Drew (25 disposals, one goal) also starred as the Power made it three straight wins.
"It wasn't perfect but still a nice, strong performance from the team," Hinkley said.
"You'll take a 40-point win at the start of the day, all day long."
Port were cleaner and had more contributors when it mattered, particularly during their match-winning 6.4 to 1.3 second term, which turned a slender five-point quarter-time edge into a commanding 36-point halftime cushion.
Finlayson slotted his fourth goal in the opening 90 seconds of the third period before dishing off to Sam Powell-Pepper moments later as Port pushed 48 points clear.
Behind Bailey Williams' centre-square grunt - in the air and on the deck - West Coast's seasoned campaigners Tim Kelly and Andrew Gaff more than matched Port's engine room in the clinches.
The Eagles, as they did at the same venue six days earlier against Geelong in Gather Round, matched their opposition after halftime, but the damage had already been done.
Their swelling injury list also took another hit with luckless captain Luke Shuey, back from a hamstring issue, hurting his left ankle in an Ollie Wines tackle early in the game and eventually being substituted in the third term.
"We're finding it hard to play our best footy with 16-17 injuries, which is a challenge for any club," West Coast coach Adam Simpson said.
"There were stages today that I thought we had the game in our hands to a certain degree, then there were times where it slipped away.
"Pretty obviously, that was the second quarter."
Australian Associated Press
