ASKED if he was surprised to get a three-week suspension for striking, Jordan Lewis smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Lewis faced news crews after training on Tuesday and took a second to respond when asked about the length of the ban: "I can't really comment on that, but yeah, it's unfortunate."

Lewis played down talk of an all-out apology to his teammates, but admitted punching Carlton's Patrick Cripps hadn't set a good example.   

"It wasn't really an apology, it was more of ... I'm sure we don't stand for this and I'd like to be out on the field and playing and participating," Lewis said.   

"It's disappointing that you miss so much football, you've got to take account for your actions. 

"There's not much more I can say, a bit disappointed in myself, and we've sort of dealt with it.

"It's probably disappointing from a club point of view that, as a leader, you're not really setting the right example."

Lewis would have risked a mammoth four-game suspension if he had taken his case to the Tribunal, thanks to a bad record.

Had he not had a bad record, the striking charge – which was graded as intentional conduct with medium impact to the head – still would have attracted a two-game ban with an early plea.