Alastair Clarkson says he has a clip behind the ear ready for James Sicily but it sounds like he might already have delivered it - and taken aim at Cameron Zurhaar on the way through as well.
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The Hawthorn coach has slapped down Sicily's latest AFL indiscretion as "just silly, stupid, unnecessary".
The defender will miss Saturday's match against St Kilda in Launceston after copping a one-match ban for stepping on the leg of North Melbourne's Shaun Atley while he was face-down on the ground.
But Clarkson has also taken a thinly-veiled swipe at Zurhaar, who escaped suspension for bumping Hawthorn's David Mirra.
The North player was fined $2000 for rough conduct after he sent Mirra crashing into the Etihad Stadium fence.
"(Sicily's incident) is no concern in terms of the severity of the act because it was so minimal it wasn't funny really," Clarkson said.
"There are much more serious things in terms of throwing blokes into fences and that sort of stuff that are significantly dangerous but it's really just the look and interpretation of what you think."
Sicily was referred directly to the tribunal for serious misconduct after sneaking a look to make sure the umpire wasn't watching and then standing on Atley.
It's his second ban this season already.
Sicily said after his hearing he had to eradicate poor discipline from his game but added Clarkson and Hawks football manager Graham Wright had his back.
"He's grown enormously in three or four years. He's 22, he still has a bit to go," Clarkson said.
"As he said, he knows full well we've got his back.
"But he also knows my hand is ready to give him a clip over the ear as well when he has an indiscretion like that."
While Clarkson downplayed the seriousness of Sicily's incident, he said there was no place for it.
"For us, it's just silly, stupid, unnecessary - just get it out of your game," he said
"Whether it's the AFL suspending him or our own footy club suspending him, he needs to get better at that."
Sicily's suspension prompts one of three Hawthorn changes for Saturday's game.
Shaun Burgoyne will return from injury, Will Langford has been recalled and James Worpel will debut.
North blitzed the Hawks in the first quarter last weekend and Clarkson hopes they learned their lesson.
"It's mainly about our intent," he said.
Australian Associated Press
