Melbourne's Kysaiah Pickett has seen his three-game suspension for rough conductย upheld at the AFL Tribunal.
The Demons and Pickett contested the Match Review Officer's charge on Tuesday evening after the Melbourne forward's bump on Collingwood Darcy Moore during Round 24 was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.
Pickett, counselled by Adrian Anderson, pleaded not guilty to the charge on the grounds that the act was not likely to cause injury at the time of his decision to bump, that Pickett contested the ball reasonably in the way he did, and that the high contact was caused by circumstances outside of Pickett's control and could not be foreseen.
Pickett did not give evidence during the hearing but had supplied a statement.
"Firstly, I'm sorry to Darcy Moore for his injury and I hope he's OK," the statement read.
"I was running towards the ball after it spilt out of a contest. My intention was to protect space by taking Darcy off the line and win the ball in front of me. This is the normal way I've contested the ball and made a play on the ball in other games.
"Darcy went to ground quite quickly in a way I did not expect, and I went over him."
The AFL did not seek to increase the ban beyond three matches, despite having the option to push for a longer suspension.
Anderson noted in the hearing that Pickett does not leave the ground in his decision to bump Moore, looking to remain as low as possible.
The AFL argued Pickett did not contest for the ball, and that it was not reasonable for Pickett to contest for the ball in the way he did. AFL Counsel Sally Flynn said Pickett could've bent down to gather possession, or at least attempt to gather the ball, could have elected to tackle, as Moore was about to take possession of the ball, and that Pickett did not need to tuck his arm and lean with his shoulder, and therefore could have slowed his momentum.
The hearing, which took over three hours in duration, ended with the Tribunal not supporting any of Melbourne's grounds to have the charged dismissed.
The outcome will mean Pickett will miss the first threeย games of the 2025 home and away season given Melbourne's campaign was brought to a close last week.
