Richmond defender Luke Trainor has been offered a suspension for his behind-the-play gut punch on West Coast forward Jack Williams.

Trainor can accept a one-week ban for the blow to the midriff that forced Williams off the field, but was missed by the on-field umpires.

The pair were exchanging words and jostling in the Eagles’ goalsquare during the second quarter of Sunday’s clash at the MCG when the Tiger ended things with a punch to Williams’ stomach.

The forward instantly dropped to his haunches as Trainor, who is in his second AFL season, walked away.

Williams came from the ground shortly after.

The Match Review Officer reviewed footage and determined the strike was intentional, medium-impact contact to the body, handing down a one-week suspension.

Richmond coach Adem Yze had been hopeful, post-match, Trainor would escape with a fine, but said it was something the club worked with the young players to avoid.

“I’m not too sure how hard the impact was, but if he’s gone and done something wrong, we’ll look at it,” Yze said.

“I think there have been a few fines over the last few occasions when things like this have happened, so hopefully, we can get that type of result.

“We don’t want to be losing players through stupidity (when we have so many injuries), so hopefully, it wasn’t too bad. We’ve educated our players, and they understand what’s right and wrong.”

Gut punches were the target of changes to the tribunal gradings in February, but this is one of the first to result in a ban, with low-impact strikes generally resulting in a fine.