Geelong coach Chris Scott has urged the match review panel (MRP) not to bow to the hype surrounding jumper punches by suspending Tom Hawkins.

The key forward is set to face scrutiny from the MRP for a second quarter clip to the chin of Adelaide's Matt Crouch during the Cats' 22-point win over the Crows on Friday night at Simonds Stadium.

Crouch was not hurt in the incident, but Hawkins' act comes at a delicate time, less than a fortnight after AFL football operations boss Simon Lethlean announced a crackdown on jumper punches, albeit without a formal rule change. That mandate came after Richmond captain Trent Cotchin and North Melbourne midfielder Ben Cunnington both escaped suspension for jumper punches to the gut of opponents.

Since the crackdown, Sydney's Zak Jones controversially escaped suspension when the MRP classified a blow he landed on Hawthorn's Luke Breust as having been of insufficient force.

Potentially complicating matters for Hawkins – who was playing his 200th game on Friday night – is the fact he was suspended 12 months ago for a jumper punch on Greater Western Sydney co-captain Phil Davis, a decision Scott criticised at the time.

Scott said he feared timing wouldn't be on Hawkins' side because of the immense about of publicity surrounding jumper punches in recent weeks.

"We've had a look at it and I think it will be bigger than it should be or would have been if there wasn't the focus on it right at the moment," Scott said. "We are believers that they should be consistent with those sorts of things.

"That is a real risk for the game, not just in this instance, but if you change the rules and say all of a sudden everything that was OK is now not OK – you run the risk of being accused of being inconsistent.

"I would be surprised if they said that things that are very, very minor in the context of the game should now go from a penalty, which the fine is [to a suspension]."

Scott noted how Lethlean's predecessor Mark Evans had sought to stop players being suspended for "innocuous" incidents, with the Cats coach flagging his concern about the prospect of that changing in light of the recent hype around jumper punches.

"I think we're going back to the bad old days of three or four years ago when Mark Evans and his team said 'this is just silly, you can't have players missing games for stuff like that.'"

Scott also said he was disappointed in Hawkins for opening himself up to a ban, but urged the MRP not to suspend his player ahead of the Cats' next match against West Coast at Domain Stadium on Thursday week.

"[Tom's] disappointed, we're disappointed, we shouldn't be talking about it," Scott said. "We're not saying, 'Hey, he did nothing wrong'. Clearly, he did based on the vision. We're just saying in our view we're very confident it is insignificant."

Scott added that the MRP should differentiate the incident from the Davis punch. "The footage will go back to the Phil Davis one. We think it's different to that. We thought he was very unlucky then, and we think this one's more of a push than anything."

Having won three games in a row -– all at home – the Cats head to their bye at 8-3. Scott said that his side now faced a "challenge" in replicating their home form on the road, beginning with their game against the Eagles.

Adelaide coach lamented his side's showing, which extended the Crows' winless run in Geelong to 14 years. "It was a disappointing night for us," Pyke said. 

Pyke didn't have an update on defender Jake Lever, who hurt his ankle late in the game. The Crows (8-3) face St Kilda at Adelaide Oval next Friday night.