Richmond defender Bachar Houli will now miss four weeks after the AFL successfully appealed his original suspension.

Houli was banned by the match review panel for just two weeks following a hit on Carlton’s Jed Lamb.

But the AFL declared that “manifestly inadequate” and appealed the sanction, with the matter being heard at a tribunal on Thursday evening.

The governing body was especially annoyed that Houli had used testimony from Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and gold Logie winner Waleed Aly to show his good character.

The AFL, in their appeal, argued the player’s previous off-field conduct was irrelevant in deciding punishment for something that happened on the field and would set a dangerous precedent.

The appeals board eventually ruled that the Houli hit, which had been deemed intentional conduct with high impact to the head, should carry a four week suspension as per the guidelines.