GEELONG coach Chris Scott says the Cats will not slap Steve Johnson with an additional penalty, such as a fine, after the mercurial midfielder was suspended for the third time this season.

The 30-year-old will miss Sunday's clash with Adelaide after receiving a one-match ban for kneeing Melbourne's Nathan Jones in the chest during Geelong's win over the Demons at Simonds Stadium last weekend.

"It's frustrating for all of us, it's frustrating for our supporters, but the person who's most disappointed and most frustrated is Steve," Scott said on Wednesday morning.

"He's no fool. He's been a champion of the game and he's a very important part of our club.

"He understands the situation better than anyone, he doesn't need the media commentators or the so-called experts to reinforce how silly he's been.

"He will need to adjust, there's no question of that. We're not in denial; he's not in denial. He'll take the week off and come back hopefully a better player."

Johnson is a member of Geelong's leadership group, but Scott says he others in the group have not given him a dressing down.

"It doesn't really work that way. They don't 'sit him down'. We're not at school here," Scott said.

"He doesn't need to go to the principal's office. We all sit down regularly, every single day at the footy club, and talk about the issues as adults. We treat them as professional athletes.

"They're across it, he's across it -  it's a very mature discussion. Any discussion that he gets hauled into the office and berated by the leadership group and the coach is so far off the mark it's not funny."

Geelong is also steering clear of the precedent set by Carlton, which fined Jarrad Waite for getting himself suspended earlier this season.

"Fine system? He's a 30-year-old professional athlete who's shown his commitment to his club over a long period of time," Scott said.

"We don't fine players, we don't treat them like kids."

Nevertheless, one member of Geelong's leadership group, veteran midfielder James Kelly, has spoken to Johnson about the need for him to change his game.

"I think he's a bit close to the edge, personally, and it's something that I've said to Steve, so he knows that I think that," Kelly told CatsTV.
"I'm a huge fan of Steve, and I think he's really important for our side, as most people do.

"I just said to him, 'You need to figure out a way to get back a little bit. You're too important for us to have weeks out of the side, especially leading into the finals.

"It's one of those things where it's a really fine line. We love the way he plays; we love him playing at the edge.

"When he's playing really well it's great, but when things like that happen everyone instantly gets disappointed, so that's something that Steve has to look at.

"It's up to him how he brings it back a little bit. Only he knows how he can do that."

Johnson was suspended during the NAB Cup for punching Fremantle's Hayden Ballantyne and copped another ban for bumping Brisbane Lion Pearce Hanley in round 13.

"We need to make sure that Steve's really clear on what we expect," Scott said. "But, to reinforce again, Steve has every high expectations of himself.

"He's made a commitment to make sure he adjusts. Now can we promise that he won't step over that fine line again? Of course we can't.

"But he's well aware of the situation that he's in now, the obligation that he has to the team.

"We can't ignore the fact that there have been several small over-steppings of the mark. We've got to face up to reality, and so does Steve. But again, no-one's more acutely aware of that than Steve."

Adam McNicol covers Geelong news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter at @AFL_AdamMcNicol