MONTANA McKinnon will miss Saturday's AFLW Grand Final after Adelaide failed to successfully downgrade her rough conduct charge for a bump on Fremantle's Kiara Bowers, with the club saying it "will now consider its options".
The 20-year-old ruck was offered a one-game ban for the incident from Saturday's preliminary final which was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
Adelaide pleaded guilty to the rough conduct charge but attempted to argue it should be graded as low impact rather than medium.
The AFLW Tribunal upheld the previous decision and dismissed Adelaide's request for "exceptional and compelling circumstances", pointing to McKinnon's good record and the fact the suspension would be served during a grand final, with the player left visibly shattered and in tears.
Adelaide counsel Samuel McDonough's argument centered around two points, that the velocity of the impact was minor and the impact was not isolated to the head, with Bowers able to play on.
The Crows also cited the example of Brisbane's Ruby Svarc whose rough conduct charge was lowered to a reprimand last week.
The prosecution, Andrew Woods, claimed the impact had to be graded as medium given it had risk to cause injury as per the AFL Tribunal guidelines, despite Bowers being able to play on.
In upholding the charge, AFLW Tribunal chair Renee Enbom QC said: "There was force in the contest despite the absence of injury. Upon impact, the player fell to the ground, laying face down. She was assessed for concussion. However, more significantly there was real potential to cause injury.
"McKinnon ran towards Bowers and chose to bump and, in doing so, made high contact with head. We do not accept the characterization of low velocity.
"Under AFLW regulations, any high bump that constitutes rough conduct that has potential to cause injury will usually be graded at minimum as medium impact, even if the impact may be low. For those reasons, the grade remains medium."
Enbom QC said the Tribunal was "sympathetic" to McKinnon's plight, given the magnitude of the fixture she would miss but dismissed Adelaide's appeal for "exceptional and compelling circumstances".
"It's a terribly disappointing result for our club and obviously Montana as well," Crows AFLW boss Phil Harper said.
"Like all of the players in our squad, she has contributed to us making the Grand Final and it's heart breaking that she won't be able to play.
"The club will now consider its options."
