Hawthorn Captain James Sicily has escaped his one-game suspension and will be free to play Melbourne in Round 2.
Sicily was charged with kicking Essendon player Andrew McGrath, with the AFL's Match Review Officer (MRO) deeming the act as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact.
Upon the completion of Tuesday's tribunal hearing, the 29-year-old will pay a fine of $2500.
The act against McGrath was considered intentional conduct, and body contact but was downgraded from medium impact to low impact.
The Tribunal found that Sicily's kick did not constitute any serious damage to the Bomber defender.
Here is the Tribunal's summation:
Jeff Gleeson (chair):"Tehan on behalf of Hawthorn acknowledged the conduct of Sicily has no place in the game of football, a comment with which we wholeheartedly agree.
But he went on to submit that this observation is not relevant to the question of the degree of impact. That submission is well made.
Video evidence shows fairly clearly that the actual impact was negligible. It was well short of a full-blooded kick and there was no response from McGrath that would suggest he suffered any pain or even discomfort.
The medical report shows he suffered no injury.
There was of course some risk of an injury to McGrath. We assess that risk as relatively low.
The force of the kick was never going to do any serious damage to McGrath. We are not satisfied that there was a significant prospect of bruising.
The fact there was some potential to cause injury results in us accepting Sicily's plea for the level of impact being low, noting that the guidelines specifically state potential to cause injury can result in negligible impact being upgraded to low impact.
Sicily relied on the video evidence of Atkins on Webster. The impact in that matter, which was graded as medium, was considerably greater, because the immediate and significant pain to Webster.
The potential for injury in that high speed and higher force impact was considerable.
For these reasons, we classify the impact as low."
Here is how the hearing unfolded...
18:05: James Sicily's ban has been downgraded to a fine. He is free to play against Melbourne.
The fine of $2500 will be handed down to Sicily.
17:48: The Tribunal is now deliberating.
Gleeson (chair): "Miss Zheng (Tribunal host) is now going to send us off into another dimension."
17:47: Flynn (AFL): The key to both cases is the potential to cause injury and that's why they're appropriately graded as medium impact.
Flynn says there is no real difference between the Sicily and Atkins incidents regarding the extent of force visually.
17:43: Tehan (Hawthorn): "There is a small potential to cause a small injury but no more than that.
"And for that reason, it will be classified as low."
17:36: Referring to the Atkins-Webster incident, Tehan (Hawthorn) flags the response from Webster to the kick from Atkins.
Webster is seen visibly distressed, "stays on the ground, rolling in pain" clutching his leg and limps once getting to the ground.
Atkins also lost balance, indicating a further potential cause to injury than that of Sicily's action against McGrath.
17:34: Tehan (Hawthorn): "One of the most reliable guides of the impact would be looking at the victim... it had no impact on him."
17:31: Tehan (Hawthorn): "He (Sicily) accepts this action is one that ought not be seen in the game of football. But the Tribunal's task tonight is a much narrower one than that - it's about impact, and whether it was medium or less than that. The nature of the action doesn't affect that assessment of impact."
17:24: Sally Flynn (AFL) replayed the incident for the tribunal, focusing on the totality of the event.
Sicily delivered the kick once McGrath was falling, highlighting the potential to cause injury.
Flynn: "Kicking a player is inherently a dangerous action that could potentially cause serious injury."
Flynn asked the Tribunal to look at the upending action of McGrath and then the kick that followed.
17:16: Tehan (Hawthorn) flags an incident between Geelong's Tom Atkins and St Kilda's Jimmy Webster in Round 23, 2023.
The incident shows Atkins attempting to kick the ball in mid-air but instead making contact with Webster.
Atkins received a fine.
17:14: Jeff Gleeson (chair) has ruled against evidence from Andrew McGrath.
Myles Tehan (Hawthorn) sought to include the transcript from McGrath's SEN interview. It was disallowed.
17:05: Hawthorn wants permission to call Essendon player Andrew McGrath. James Sicily won't give evidence.
17:03: Hawthorn is contesting impact being medium. If it is downgraded to low, the suspension will be reduced to a fine.
Tribunal: Jeff Gleeson (chair)
AFL Counsel: Sally Flynn
Hawthorn Counsel: Myles Tehan