Steve Johnson agrees with AFL general manager of football operations Simon Lethlean that Bachar Houli's two-week suspension for striking is too short, but the Giants veteran still believes quality of character should be considered at tribunal hearings.
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No stranger to the tribunal himself during a decorated 16-year career, Johnson was left surprised like most of the league after recent public comments by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull helped reduce Houli's ban, despite the Richmond defender being found guilty of deliberately hitting Lamb.
Lethlean and the AFL have taken the extraordinary step of appealing the tribunal's decision after labelling the initial sanction as "manifestly inadequate".
Houli was reported for a first-quarter incident in the Tigers' win over Carlton on Sunday, where he lashed out at Lamb and left the Blues youngster motionless for several minutes on the MCG turf.
"I did see it, he can count himself pretty lucky I would've thought," Johnson said.
"It counts for something having a really strong character if you've been in the game for such a long time, and you've got a pretty clear record, that has to help.
"Maybe they don't think I'm a great bloke because I've copped plenty of weeks over the years."
Houli stands to miss the Tigers' clash with Port Adelaide on Saturday, and next weekend's match with St Kilda. He will miss further games should the AFL succeed in its challenging of the tribunal's penalty.
Johnson, meanwhile, will be up against his old side Geelong on Saturday for the third time since moving to GWS from the Cats at the end of 2015.
Geelong has struggled in patches this season, but comes into the game in third spot after a nail-biting win over Fremantle last weekend.
"It's hard to put a finger on their form at times," Johnson said.
"The proof is they've won games of footy and found a way, they've been challenged at times but again on the weekend, three men down. Throughout that game they sort of didn't look like winning, but they were able to find a way, it goes to show they've got a lot of belief in their team and they probably feel like they're never out of any contest."
Josh Kelly is hopeful of returning from a hip niggle for the Cats, while Giants ruckman Rory Lobb and forward Devon Smith trained well on Wednesday and will be considered for an AFL return.
