Only weeks after overturning what would have been the first suspension of his storied career, Geelong’s Gary Ablett is again mulling whether to challenge a one-game ban.

Match review officer Michael Christian came down hard on the dual Brownlow Medal winner for hitting Gold Coast opponent Anthony Miles in the jaw with a right-arm jab during the Cats’ win at Metricon Stadium.

It was the third time in four weeks that 35-year-old Ablett had faced match review scrutiny in a bizarre ill-disciplined run for the decorated veteran.

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Ablett successfully challenged a one-game suspension for a high hit on Essendon’s Dylan Shiel at the tribunal after Round 7, then escaped sanction for a similar head-high bump on North Melbourne’s Sam Wright a week later.

Unlike both those incidents, Ablett’s hit on Miles was well off the ball. The question was whether it would be classified as insufficient force, as was the case in the Wright incident.

But while Miles was quickly back on his feet, Christian ruled that Ablett’s strike had the potential to cause serious injury.

“That was certainly considered, and that’s certainly relevant for highly intentional actions as this was,” Christian told reporters on Monday.

“Taking into account all the factors that we look at when grading impact and the potential to cause injury, we were comfortable that it sat under low impact.”

Christian said the latest incident had been assessed independently of Ablett’s recent misdemeanours.

But the recent suspensions handed to Richmond duo Dustin Martin and Ivan Soldo for similar incidents had made clear the AFL’s views.

“Any striking action, off the ball in particular, is something that we don’t want to see in the game,” he said.

Under the guidelines, off-ball intentional strikes don’t belong in the game, so they’ll be treated accordingly.”

Geelong has until 11am on Tuesday to decide whether Ablett, who has never served a suspension in 331 games, will face the tribunal for the second time this year.

“That’s entirely up to Gary and entirely up to Geelong,” Christian said.

“I’m really comfortable with the system … if clubs and players want to go to the tribunal, that’s their absolute right.”

Ablett was the only player suspended from Round 10’s games.

Meanwhile, in the AFL’s mid-season draft Carlton has selected former Fremantle midfielder Josh Deluca with the top pick.

Deluca, who played four senior games for the Dockers before being delisted in 2017, has since been plying his trade for Subiaco in the WAFL.

Gold Coast on Monday night took Mitch Riordan and Melbourne selected Kyle Dunkley to round out the top three of the first mid-year draft since 1993.

-with AAP