Essendon officials have reluctantly decided not to take David Hille's striking charge to the AFL tribunal and he will subsequently miss the Bombers next two match against Richmond and Collingwood. Hille was charged with striking the Kangaroos David Hale last weekend.

""We believe the contact was accidental rather than negligent, but it was questionable whether we could have convinced the tribunal of that,"" Essendon's general manager of football operations Dom Cato said.  

""Rather than risk having him sidelined for three weeks we have decided to enter an early plea and miss two weeks. We aren't happy about it but on balance it was the right thing to do because there is a very fine line between what we consider careless and others consider negligent.

""We also think it is important to note that David Hille is very much a ball player. He was not charged with an intentional or reckless act.""