Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge has been suspended for three matches at the Tribunal on Tuesday night after pleading guilty to striking North Melbourne midfielder Andrew Swallow.

PRESS PLAY above to watch the incident | YouTube

The penalty means he will miss the Grand Final rematch against the Sydney Swans at the MCG in round eight as well as matches against Greater Western Sydney and Melbourne in the next fortnight.

Hodge showed genuine remorse when he fronted the Tribunal and explained he had apologised to both Swallow and North Melbourne coach Brad Scott since Saturday night's match. His counsel Chris Townsend QC pushed for a two-match ban, given Hodge's guilty plea and the impact of the strike.

However, the jury of Wayne Henwood, Richard Loveridge and Shane Wakelin maintained the Match Review Panel's view that there was a risk of serious injury in handing down its final penalty.

Hodge apologised to Swallow on-field on Saturday night and said he had spoken to him since to make sure the Kangaroos' skipper knew he didn't intend to strike him high.

The two-time Norm Smith medallist told the Tribunal he had intended to strike Swallow to the chest. He said although he played a physical style of football, there was no excuse for what he did.

"I definitely did not mean to get him as high as I did, but in saying that I was silly enough to do it and have to cop the punishment," Hodge said as he left AFL House.

"I don't stand for that as a footballer and I don't stand for that as a person.

"I definitely believe there's no room in our game for incidents like that, (so) I'll cop the three weeks and move on from there."

Earlier on Tuesday, Jordan Lewis accepted a two-match ban for striking Todd Goldstein.