Injured Richmond star Tom Lynch's rough conduct charge on Alex Keath has been thrown out at the AFL tribunal, while Carlton's Harry McKay can face Adelaide after his one-match striking ban was downgraded to a fine. Tuesday's marathon night at the tribunal, lasting more than four hours, proved a good one for key forwards. Lynch was facing at least a three-week ban for his crunching aerial contact that concussed Western Bulldogs defender Keath on Saturday, which was graded careless conduct, high contact and severe impact and sent directly to the tribunal. But the Tigers successfully argued Lynch didn't bump Keath, who will miss one-two games with concussion, and it wasn't rough conduct. Lynch was already set for at least two months on the sidelines after suffering a broken foot in Saturday's five-point loss that requires surgery, but being cleared will help his record. Counsel Sam Tovey argued Lynch kept his eyes on the ball and maintained his line of momentum before bracing for contact, rather than clenching his fists and driving through a bump when Keath "deviated" into his path. Lynch, praised for "cogent and emphatic evidence", said he misjudged the ball's flight but it was too late for him to pull out of his jump by the time he saw Keath and he instead turned to protect himself. "I just rotated my body so the contact that was coming front-on, 45 (degree angle) would hit me in the side to prevent injury to me, otherwise it would've opened me up," he said. AFL counsel Andrew Woods argued Lynch chose to bump and his actions were unreasonable. But after 25 minutes of deliberation the panel of chair Jeff Gleeson, Jason Johnson and Shane Wakelin sided with the Tiger. "We are not clearly satisfied that this was rough conduct," Gleeson said. McKay's hit on Sheezel on Good Friday was originally judged as careless, medium impact and high contact. After close to 50 minutes of deliberation, the panel upheld the striking charge but ruled McKay's "last-minute reduction in force" to minimise impact meant it didn't have "real potential for a head injury" and therefore should be graded low. The Blues' decision to compare the case to Brisbane midfielder Rhys Mathieson's 2021 swinging arm on Kysaiah Pickett, which was graded as low impact, also helped their cause. Woods argued the potential to cause injury meant the incident should be graded as medium impact. A North Melbourne medical report said Sheezel was assessed but played out the game and did not require further treatment or miss any training or games. McKay, praised for his "impressive" evidence, was applying defensive pressure as Sheezel kicked. He said he had no option but to push Sheezel as he was too far away to tackle, and as per his Carlton training, used his forearm instead of just his arm for greater surface area. The tribunal could be busy again soon. Hawthorn's Will Day received a two-match ban for a sling tackle (careless conduct, high impact, high contact) on Geelong's Brad Close in their Easter Monday clash. Cat Gary Rohan copped a one-match suspension for his dangerous tackle (careless conduct, medium impact, high contact) on Hawk Changkuoth Jiath. Hawthorn ruck Lloyd Meek can accept a $2000 fine for kneeing Geelong's Mark Blicavs in a ruck contest. Australian Associated Press
