Prior accepted the two-week ban offered to him by the match review panel on Tuesday morning, leaving the Panthers forward stocks thin for upcoming matches against Myrtleford and Wodonga.

The Panthers are already without forward line key recruit Luke Gestier, who ruptured his ACL in round 1.

Saker said he was unlikely to tinker with the team structure too much, despite losing two of their tall forward options.

“Justin will stay in the ruck-forward role he's played for the past few weeks,” he said.

“He'll obviously have to spend a little bit more time in the forward line than he has lately, but the balance of the team is what we'll be considering during the week.”

The Panthers are likely to bring someone up from the reserves team, which has enjoyed a 3-1 start to the season.

“We'll look at throwing some different options up in the forward line, whether we go for a bit more speed or another mid-sized player, I'm not too sure,” Saker said.

“We want to get someone who fits in with the team balance more than anything.”

Up against the Myrtleford on Saturday afternoon, combating the Saints’ array of promising young talls will be key to the Panthers’ success.

Brant Dickson shifted into the backline during last Saturday's narrow victory against Wangaratta, a move Saker was open to reprising.

“Dickson did a job down back last weekend, we were confident that he could do that with the two rucks,” he said.

“We’ve got players at both ends who can play tall and small.

“If we get the balance right we can adjust to those sides.”