Port Adelaide hard-man Josh Carr had his 100th game delayed on Tuesday night as the AFL tribunal suspended him from this weekend's crunch game against Melbourne.

In better news for the Power, All Australian defender Brett Montgomery was cleared of rough play, as was Geelong's Cameron Mooney.

Carr pleaded not guilty to striking Essendon's Andrew Welsh when the Bomber laid a shepherd on the Power player.

Carr appeared to deliver a short left-hand strike to the abdomen of Welsh, who was doubled over and winded after the clash.

"I felt a bit of contact to the stomach and was winded for 20 or 30 seconds," Welsh said.

Carr claimed he attempted to grab hold of Welsh, revealing that it was a Port tactic to give away free kicks when shepherded in the hope of slowing play.

"At the last moment from the corner of my eye I saw the Essendon player come in and went to wrap him up," Carr said.

"The amount of force he was running with was why he got winded."

Carr repeated the tribunal mantra of "minimal contact" but tribunal chairman Brian Collis said it was "forceful".

The Power player was suspended for two weeks for striking earlier this season but, in laying down only a one-week ban on Tuesday night the tribunal said the two incidents were quite different.

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