Hawthorn captain James Sicily has been hit with a three-game ban for his dangerous tackle that left Brisbane star Hugh McCluggage concussed.
It capped a bumper night at the AFL tribunal where St Kilda forward Dan Butler has had his controversial ban for a dangerous tackle on Sydney's Nick Blakey thrown out.
Richmond's Rhyan Mansell also copped a three-game ban for a bump that left Fremantle winger James Aish concussed.
Star Hawk defender Sicily claimed his conduct wasn't careless as he'd targeted McCluggage's hips and was following advice from the AFL's dangerous tackle crackdown to try and have his opponent land on himself and soften his fall.
But he said contact from teammate Tyler Brockman on McCluggage prevented him from being able to brace himself with his free arm, in what his lawyer labelled a "classic rotating tackle".
"The combination of him being on top of me and his other arm being free is more than enough duty of care," Sicily argued.
The AFL argued Brockman didn't significantly influence the action, while tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson said it appeared Sicily had pulled down on McCluggage's arm to apply force after Brockman had passed.
"We do not accept Brockman's involvement caused an otherwise safe tackle to be dangerous, Sicily continuing to rotate McCluggage, pulling down on his left arm and pinning his left arm (did)," Gleeson said.
Earlier, Butler was freed to face his former club Richmond on Saturday, the tribunal finding he hadn't breached his duty of care in his run-down tackle of Blakey last Thursday night and overturning his one-game.
The Saints livewire said he'd tried to roll with the tackle so as not to give away a push in the back free kick and argued he'd had no choice but to tackle as "I don't want to get dropped".
His lawyer said there was no alternative but to tackle and pointed out Butler had released Blakey's arms before he made contact with the ground so he could brace his fall.
Gleeson agreed and his panel dismissed the charge, finding Butler's momentum made some contact with the ground inevitable.
"He had dropped to the side, had no real power from the commencement of the tackle ... he did not drive Blakey to the ground with his arms," he said.
Meanwhile, Richmond's Mansell is out for three weeks after the tribunal found he'd bumped Aish without contesting the football despite his pleas to the contrary.
Mansell argued his eyes were on the football the whole time and he'd made a last-minute decision to brace for impact once he knew Aish would win the loose ball.
AFL counsel Lisa Hannon said Mansell had "effectively ran through" Aish and his "turn-and-tuck" body motion meant he was no longer contesting the football, an assertion the tribunal agreed with.
The tribunal's decision to free Butler is likely to be met with positivity from the wider AFL community.
Before the hearing Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall said he'd be "horrified" if Butler was suspended for the tackle, among a sea of other criticism for the ban.
