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Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard is in grave danger of missing out on his team's premiership charge after being sent straight to the AFL Tribunal for the attempted smother that knocked out Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw.

Carlton forward Jack Martin will also face video scrutiny for his high hit on Sydney's Nick Blakey early in the Friday night elimination final, which the Blues won by six points.

Blakey left the field immediately after the incident, but returned and played out the game.

Brayshaw will miss Melbourne's semi-final against Carlton under AFL concussion protocols after he was flattened by Maynard less than 10 minutes into Thursday night's 9.6 (60) to 7.11 (53) loss at the MCG.

Maynard jumped towards Brayshaw, attempting to smother his kick inside 50, and turned and collected the midfielder high with his shoulder, knocking him out cold.

Brayshaw required lengthy attention on the field before leaving the field on a stretcher and in a neck brace.

AFL match review officer Michael Christian graded the act as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.

He is facing a ban of at least three matches at the AFL Tribunal.

Jacob van Rooyen was also dealt bad news, with the young Melbourne forward handed a one-match ban for a striking offence.

Van Rooyen collected Daniel McStay on the jaw with his arm after the Magpie dropped a mark in the first quarter and the ball spilled between them.

The Magpie went off the ground for a concussion assessment but returned and played out the game.

The incident was assessed as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact, drawing a one-match ban.

It means van Rooyen will miss his team's semi-final unless Melbourne successfully overturn the decision at the AFL Tribunal - should they choose to challenge it.

And unless Collingwood's lawyers can successfully downgrade one of Maynard's classifications, he will miss the Magpies' preliminary final - and grand final should they make it that far.

"I don't want to say too much, but it's a footy act," Maynard told the Seven Network after Collingwood's win over Melbourne.

"I came forward, I jumped to smother the ball and yeah, unfortunately I just got him on the way down.

"So I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin certainly wasn't doing Maynard any favours.

Brayshaw, 27, cannot play again for at least another 12 days, while he has a lengthy concussion history and wears headgear.

"I guess that'll be sorted out during the week, but we've got a pretty shattered player (Brayshaw) in there," Goodwin said.

"Look, you can only go by the facts: he jumped off the ground and knocked a guy out.

"So I guess time will tell."

Beyond the concussion, Goodwin said Brayshaw only had a "shiner".

Collingwood coach Craig McRae queried whether there was malice to Maynard's action.

"I've caught it on a phone. One view of it, one angle, it looks like he's in the air," he said.

"The act itself, it didn't look like it had much malice but I'll leave it up to others to decide if that's worthy of a suspension or not. I don't know."

Immediately after the Blues' 11.8 (74) to 9.14 (68) win, Martin told Channel Seven that when he went to the interchange bench following the Blakey incident, coach Michael Voss told him "good tackle".

© AAP 2023

Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard faces a nervous wait on whether the attempted smother that knocked out Melbourne's Angus Brayshaw will put his AFL season in jeopardy.

Young Melbourne forward Jacob van Rooyen will also sweat on how match review officer Michael Christian assesses his high swinging arm on Collingwood tall Dan McStay, and whether that rules him out of a sudden-death semi-final.

Brayshaw will miss Melbourne's semi-final against either Carlton or Sydney under AFL concussion protocols after he was flattened by Maynard less than 10 minutes into Thursday night's 9.6 (60) to 7.11 (53) loss at the MCG.

Maynard jumped towards Brayshaw, attempting to smother his kick inside 50, and turned and collected the midfielder high with his shoulder, knocking him out cold.

Brayshaw required lengthy attention on the field before leaving the field on a stretcher and in a neck brace.

The on-field umpire could be heard on the broadcast saying Maynard was reported for the high contact.

"I don't want to say too much, but it's a footy act," Maynard told the Seven Network.

"I came forward, I jumped to smother the ball and yeah, unfortunately I just got him on the way down.

"So I don't know. We'll have to wait and see what happens."

Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin certainly wasn't doing Maynard any favours.

Brayshaw, 27, cannot play again for at least another 12 days, while he has a lengthy concussion history and wears headgear.

"I guess that'll be sorted out during the week, but we've got a pretty shattered player (Brayshaw) in there," Goodwin said.

"Look, you can only go by the facts: he jumped off the ground and knocked a guy out.

"So I guess time will tell."

Beyond the concussion, Goodwin said Brayshaw only had a "shiner".

Melbourne teammates Alex Neal-Bullen and Christian Petracca failed to weigh in on the incident except to say they were "devastated" for Brayshaw.

"I was right there, and it was pretty upsetting to see him on the ground like that," Petracca told KISS 101.1.

"Anyone, even a Collingwood player, you don't want to play this game to see anyone getting concussed."

Collingwood coach Craig McRae queried whether there was malice to Maynard's action.

"I've caught it on a phone. One view of it, one angle, it looks like he's in the air," he said.

"The act itself, it didn't look like it had much malice but I'll leave it up to others to decide if that's worthy of a suspension or not. I don't know."

Van Rooyen collected McStay on the jaw with his arm after the Magpie dropped a mark in the first quarter and the ball spilled between them.

Goodwin said: "I haven't really seen too much of it but I'm pretty sure McStay stayed on the ground."

The Magpie went off the ground for a concussion assessment but returned and played out the game.

© AAP 2023

The Duke of Sussex said Queen Elizabeth II "is looking down on all of us" as he spoke fondly of his late grandmother on the eve of the anniversary of her death.

Harry attended the WellChild Awards ceremony in London on Thursday night, his first appearance in the UK since June.

In a speech at the ceremony, the duke reflected on the events of 12 months ago when he was forced to miss the awards as he rushed to Balmoral in Aberdeenshire after his grandmother was taken ill.

He said: "As you know, I was unable to attend the awards last year as my grandmother passed away.

"As you also probably know, she would have been the first person to insist that I still come to be with you all instead of going to her, and that's precisely why I know exactly one year on that she is looking down on all of us tonight, happy we're together, continuing to spotlight such an incredible community."

Earlier, Harry cut a relaxed figure as he sat with seriously-ill children and their families during a pre-ceremony reception at The Hurlingham Club in south-west London.

The duke, a WellChild patron for 15 years, sat down with each young award winner in turn and spoke with them about their interests and hobbies.

He fist-bumped two of the boys receiving Inspirational Young Person awards - George Hall, 11, from Skipton, North Yorkshire, and Blake McCaughey, 15, from Tandragee, Co Armagh.

Blake and his family gifted Harry a green Belfast Giants ice hockey shirt, personalised with the duke's name on the back.

Another award winner, seven-year-old Poppy Higham, from Runcorn, danced to music by Ed Sheeran in front of Harry, to which he gave warm applause.

Harry's appearance at the event was the first time the royal had been seen in the UK since his high-profile legal case at the High Court against Mirror Group Newspapers earlier in the year.

© PAA 2023