Hallam has been charged with the physical abuse of another player in Yarrawonga Mulwala’s Matt Knight, following an incident last Saturday

WDCA has a set penalty which carries a 20-week suspension.

However, the umpire who laid the report has referred the matter directly to a tribunal hearing.

The season is played over 25 separate days.

“Some preliminary discussions that we have had suggest that, in this instance, the 20 weeks may be a little bit too heavy-handed,” WDCA vice-president Justin Triffitt said.

“The umpire’s also given a full statement on top of the report.

“Obviously we’re not happy what’s happened in the game, it’s certainly not within the spirit of cricket.”

The Border Mail understands tension between Hallam and the home side started the previous week.

Hallam dismissed Yarrawonga’s number 10 batsman Matt McCabe and delivered a robust send-off.

The Lakers didn’t appreciate it, and vowed to go hard, but stay within the rules, when Hallam batted in the Magpies’ second innings.

Knight was fielding at second slip and talking to Hallam, who approached Knight and pushed him in the chest.

“We were just sticking up for a team-mate, I guess, and we’ve done that a lot over the years,” Lakers’ captain Reid Clarke said.

And the Magpies will likewise support their own.

“Nick has the absolute backing of the club,” captain Dylan Landgren said.

“Obviously any time a player engages in physical contact there’s obviously, regardless of how small it is, it’s probably pushing the boundaries and taking it too far.

“But it’s not in his (Nick’s) nature for incidents like this to happen.”

Landgren maintains Hallam’s send-off of McCabe was settled after day one.

“The umpire had spoken to me and Nick, and we’d both spoken to Matt (McCabe) and the opposition captain (Reid Clarke), and Nick apologised, even if he didn’t really have to,” Landgren said.

“If that was used as an excuse for them to come back, fire shots the next week, it’s not particularly spot-on when they’ve gone and accepted it (the apology).

“From our point of view, it’s one of those scenarios where it comes across, when you hear it, a lot worse than what it actually was.”

Clarke also admitted his players had a beer with Hallam after the game and there’s no bad blood between the parties.

“I’m quite proud of how our team handled the situation once we got Nick out,” Clarke said.

“We could have carried on and whatever, but we just dealt with it, we didn’t say a word.”

WDCA is set to host a tribunal hearing, with a two-dayer left and then finals.