BARRY Hall still called it a "mind snap" and apologised unreservedly to Brent Staker, but the heavy punch he threw to the West Coast defender's jaw was punished with a seven-match penalty by the AFL Tribunal.

Hall was possibly saved from a 10-game penalty by the strong suggestion by tribunal chairman John Hassett to the jury of former players David Pittman, Stewart Loewe and Wayne Schimmelbusch that the Sydney big man was entitled to a 25% discount for a guilty plea.

The chairman also directed the jury that the number of games Hall was likely to miss with the broken right wrist he suffered in the final quarter of the game was not relevant in assessing penalty.

Asked by his advocate, Terry Forrest, QC, "why on Earth" he had acted as he did in response to some fairly innocuous grappling in the first quarter of the match, Hall could only muster the phrase he has used several times since the incident: "Frustration, mind snap — and something came out, which looked really bad and I didn't intend." Hall added that, "I certainly did intend to strike, but not to put him out of the game like that".

He admitted that the incident was bad for the game, especially as the AFL looked to establish a second licence in NSW. He apologised unreservedly to Staker and apologised to the league and fans. "I'm sorry. I'm very remorseful. I've heard the doctor's evidence and it's not good to hear that sort of stuff. I certainly apologise unreservedly."

West Coast medical officer Dr Gerard Taylor told the tribunal in a submission that Staker had been conscious, but dazed, when he attended him within 30 seconds of the incident. He was unaware of where he was as he was walked from the ground in a "dazed and confused state". He had no recollection of the incident and his next memory was of sitting next to the doctor on the bench, some two to three minutes later.

Taylor told the tribunal that Staker had concussion and a sprain to the tempero-mandibular joint on the other side of his face to where the punch landed. He was a 50-50 chance to play this week and almost certain to play the week after, though he could experience soreness in the jaw for some time yet.

Counsel assisting the tribunal, Jeff Gleeson, SC, focused on Hall's previous experience as an amateur boxer and a man who still practised his pugilistic skills. "You know how to land a punch with maximum impact," he told Hall, who agreed that he did.

Gleeson said the rotation of the shoulder and follow-through indicated Hall was always intending to land a severe blow. He asked Hall what he meant by the term "mind snap", to which Hall replied that he intended to strike and it was a "get-off-me sort of thing".

Gleeson said in his summing up that Hall had thrown a punch "that would make Rocky Balboa blush".

Forrest conceded that the offence was a serious one, but said the tribunal should take the "mitigating circumstances into account as well as the aggravating one". These included Hall's guilty plea, his remorse, the fact that Staker had not suffered a more serious injury and the fact Hall had turned around an undisciplined record from early in his career.

Fremantle's Steven Dodd and Geelong's Cameron Mooney can both play this weekend after successfully arguing that their actions in cases of tripping an opponent were reckless but unintentional. Dodd had been charged with tripping Richmond's Jack Riewoldt and Mooney with tripping St Kilda's Leigh Montagna.