Wayne Carey vows to turn his back on AFL over Peter Wright ...

Former North Melbourne great Wayne Carey has vowed to stop watching the AFL if Essendon forward Peter Wright is handed a suspension by the AFL Tribunal. Wright is facing a multi-week stint on the sidelines for a brutal hit on Swans star Harry Cunningham during his side's 30-point defeat to Sydney on Saturday night.

Wright and Cunningham were both contesting a mark but the Bombers star mistimed his run, turning to brace for contact at the last second resulting in his shoulder thudding into Cunningham's face, leaving the Swans star unconscious. Cunningham was taken off the ground on a stretcher and substituted out with a concussion and reported memory loss following the collision.

Former North Melbourne great Wayne Carey has vowed to not watch the AFL if Essendon forward Peter Wright is suspended at the AFL Tribunal. Image: Getty

Debate has raged around Wright's possible penalty since the incident occurred, with the AFL expected to push for at least a four-match ban at the Tribunal on Tuesday. Essendon are yet to declare whether they will fight the charge and attempt to have it downgraded or leave Wright at the mercy of the Tribunal.

But Carey believes he shouldn't be suspended at all, stating the Bomber had eyes for the footy and only turned at the last second to brace for contact when he realised he wasn't getting to the ball first. The North champion says the crackdown on head knocks has "gone too far" and vows that he won't watch a minute of footy for as long as Wright is suspended.

"Weak as piss straight away to the AFL. Whoever decided that was sent straight to the tribunal; that was absolute crap and wrong," Carey said. "I’m prepared to say if Peter Wright gets suspended, whatever weeks he gets, I will not watch a game of AFL footy. I’m done.

"I’m jumping ship, and I would say to anyone out there if we want this game to look anything like it should look, he’s allowed to attack that footy and he’s allowed to protect himself. They got to the footy simultaneously; he turned his body to protect himself.

"If he doesn’t turn his body, they’re both hurt. This is what our game is about. It’s just gone too far now. I will not watch footy for as long as he gets weeks. It's a waste of time, a waste of his money, and I could not be more disappointed." Cunningham will miss at least one week under the AFL's 12-day concussion protocols.

West Coast coach Adam Simpson says it is "really difficult" to coach players around such high-speed collisions, stating that they are just part of the game. "Some players have (awareness), some don't. A lot of these incidents are guys protecting themselves at the last minute, and it's hard to stop that," Simpson told Fox Footy on Monday night.

"I sort of get why and how, but these things are always going to be there when it's just that split-second decision where you need to take your eye off the ball when you feel contact coming and it looks like it's a deliberate act. I'm not quite sure what the answer to this is, but it's going to happen."

After a horror bump in round two, Harry Cunningham was taken off the ground on a stretcher and substituted out with a concussion, reporting memory loss following the collision. (Mark Metcalfe/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley believes it is imperative players only have eyes for the ball as the AFL cracks down on high contact. Power forward Sam Powell-Pepper is still serving out his four-match ban for the bump that concussed Adelaide's Mark Keane during the pre-season, in what was the first test case after the AFL's latest crackdown on head contact. Hinkley warned players that if they play the man and get it wrong, they will pay "a really big price".

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"We've had a player go through it at the start of this year in slightly different circumstances, but you've just got to go at the ball at all costs," Hinkley said on Fox Footy on Monday night. "You've got to compete in the air for the ball, and if you're not competing for the ball and you get it wrong, you're going to pay a really big price - and I get why.

"I 100 per cent get why. The injuries that are coming about because of concussion, we've got to be doing everything we can to stop."

with AAP