JIMMY Bartel has some advice for former teammate Tom Hawkins: stop throwing jumper punches.
With Geelong having the bye this weekend, Hawkins will miss the trip to Perth to face West Coast in round 13 after accepting a one-match ban for striking Adelaide's Matt Crouch.
Bartel was part of the Match Review Panel that deemed Hawkins' hit as intentional, but low impact to the head.
Speaking on RSN radio on Tuesday morning, Bartel said his premiership teammate was far too valuable to Geelong to be getting involved in undisciplined incidents.
The 28-year-old was lucky to escape suspension last year for a similar hit on Giant Phil Davis.
"He just needs to get it out of his game," Bartel said.
"He's such a valuable part of the Geelong side … he's been the big key forward who's kicked a lot of goals.
"In that situation he asserted himself on the Crouch boys enough. and it was the last action in that little wrestle, but he got him high."
Bartel also explained why the MRP only gave Swan Zac Jones a fine for a strike on Hawk Breust in round 10, while it deemed Hawkins' indiscretion worthy of a suspension.
"Zac Jones hit Luke Breust in the body, Tom Hawkins hit Matt Crouch in the neck, chin – wherever you want to put it, it was still above the shoulder," Bartel said.
"(The Hawkins call) definitely wasn't an easy decision at all."