Carlton forward Matthew Owies will miss his side's elimination final against Brisbane after the AFL Tribunal upheld a one-match ban for a dangerous tackle on St Kilda's Jack Higgins.
The 27-year-old's failure to overturn his suspension on Tuesday night is a major blow to the Blues, who will miss Owies' talents in front of goal.
His 33 goals this season were crucial in helping his side sneaking into the finals in eighth place.
Owies had been charged with careless conduct, medium impact and high contact for the driving tackle, even though a similar tackle from Western Bulldogs defender Liam Jones on Aaron Cadman on Sunday had been met with only a fine.
Higgins returned to the field soon after the tackle, having been cleared of concussion symptoms.
Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said Owies' tackle was unreasonable and had the potential to cause injury, even though Higgins was uninjured.
"We find that this was rough conduct and that the grading is careless, high contact and medium impact," he said.
Matthew Owies has been offered a one-match suspension for this incident involving Jack Higgins.
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Owies told the Tribunal he loosened his grip on Higgins's arms as they were going to ground but was unable to immediately release his hold as they were moving too fast.
His club's lawyer, Peter O'Farrell, said his challenge was no more impactful than Jones's tackle on Cadman.
"The extent of force was minimal from Owies, we would submit," he said.
Nick Pane, representing the AFL, said Owies could have released Higgins's arms after he had released the ball, allowing the tackled player to brace his fall.
"This was an inherently dangerous tackle, and the force with which player Higgins's head hit the ground meant that there was potential to cause a more serious injury," he said.
After the Tribunal returned its guilty verdict in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, O'Farrell argued Owies' penalty should be reduced because of exceptional and compelling circumstances.
Namely, he had an exemplary record and could attract players to AFL from basketball as a result of his background playing the game.
The Tribunal retired to deliberate, again, before saying they were not satisfied that the circumstances were exceptional or compelling enough to overturn the ban.
Owies' hearing, which was initially scheduled to kick off at 8pm Melbourne time, was delayed until 10pm after the evening's earlier hearing for Demons forward Kysaiah Pickett lasted a mammoth three hours.
Pickett will miss the first three games of the 2025 AFL season after failing to overturn a three-match suspension for a bump on Collingwood's Darcy Moore.
The challenge during the Demons' 46-point defeat on Friday night, which forced the Magpies captain from the field with concussion, was judged as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
"We are required to consider whether there was unreasonable conduct that was likely to cause injury," Mr Gleeson said.
"We find that there was."
Melbourne missed out on finals following their 14th-placed finish, so the ban carries over into next year.
Kysaiah Pickett has been offered a three-match suspension for this incident involving Darcy Moore.
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Pickett apologised to Moore for the injury and said he did not expect him to go to ground so quickly.
"My intention was to protect space by taking Darcy off the line and win the ball in front of me," he said.
"This is the normal way I've contested the ball and made a play on the ball in other games."
It's not the first time Pickett's bumping has got him into trouble.
Pickett missed Melbourne's first game of this season after being banned for a high bump on Patrick Cripps in last year's semi-final loss to Carlton.
He also received a one-match ban for a bump on Adelaide's Jake Soligo in Gather Round.
