Scott used his media conference to criticise his players' lack of composure in being drawn into a show of aggression in Sunday's spiteful clash with Hawthorn which resulted in three and two-match suspensions respectively for Hawks captain Luke Hodge and vice-captain Jordan Lewis.

Scott said he was more concerned that the team gave up momentum and lost focus by reacting to the illegal hits than he was with the hits themselves.

"Andrew Swallow was really disappointed with his reaction [to being struck by Hodge]," Scott said. "Immediately after the Hodge incident, we gave away a free kick which resulted in a centre-bounce goal.

"We conceded the lead we had at the time. We conceded the momentum because we were supposedly flying the flag.

"Flying the flag is just crap," he said.

Scott suggested there was an easy way for fired-up players to prove their toughness on the field: rise above it.

"Push and shove is not tough. It's not brave. It's rubbish ... it's cowardice," he said.

"What is tough and courageous is copping something that's a bit untoward, getting up and staying in control and then attacking the next contest with ferocity.

"When I started playing footy, if somebody said they're going to belt you there was a fair chance they'd do it. Now a lot of players say that, but they never do it, apart from a few very rare cases."

Scott said Hodge "offered an apology that was accepted. It was largely out of character and it shouldn't tarnish his reputation in any way."

Scott's comments came as Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley said the other player suspended from the weekend – Gold Coast's Steven May – should never have been reported as his action was appropriate in the situation.

Key defender May bumped Tom Rockliff as the pair raced towards a loose ball in front of the Lions' goal. May chose to bump Rockliff rather than contest the ball, accidentally struck his head and knocked him out.

The AFL's rules  state that if a player chooses to bump and hits someone in the head, albeit accidentally, he is guilty of reckless conduct. But Buckley said the player had behaved in the correct manner and been penalised for it.

"I don't agree with the decision. I think the decision was held against [him because] there is an alternate option for him to contest the footy, and absolutely there is. But if you are 30 metres out from goal and you dive on the footy, then it is a free kick against you to your opposition," Buckley said.

"I can understand the thought process of the kid and why he attacked the body first before coming down to the ball."

May was banned for three weeks after appealing his two-match ban at the tribunal. He argued that if he had dived at the ball, he would have conceded a free kick for sliding.

"From a pure football [viewpoint], on the decision that he [May] made, the position on the field, the opposition player, where he was situated, where the ball was, the angle he was coming from, I can understand entirely from a football perspective how  he would have very little malice and was all about trying to come back and win the ball and defend," Buckley said.

AFL match review panel member Nathan Burke said the three-game bans were fair and defended the tribunal decisions.

Former Port Adelaide captain Dom Cassisi, however, was among those confused by what he perceived as inconsistency between the verdicts.

"If the 'bump' in AFL wasn't dead already, it def is now. May getting 3 weeks is a bit stiff. Should've punched/elbowed him like Yarran/Hodge," Cassisi posted on Twitter.

But Burke said May had chosen to bump when he had an alternative, and he could have taken a two-week ban if he pleaded guilty.