BRAYDEN Maynard is free to play in Collingwood's preliminary final after the rough conduct charge for his collision with Angus Brayshaw was dismissed at the Tribunal on Tuesday night.

And on a successful night for big Melbourne clubs, Carlton's Jack Martin had his two-match ban for striking Nick Blakey downgraded to one.

But all eyes were on Maynard's case, and following a four-hour hearing, the panel said the Magpie's decision to smother was reasonable and agreed he made no conscious decision to bump Brayshaw.

Maynard gave extensive evidence to overturn his charge which was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact and has left Brayshaw missing at least one match with concussion.

Collingwood sought the help of a biomechanist and neuroscience expert to clear the defender's name.

In giving his verdict, chairman Jeff Gleeson said Maynard was "not careless in either his decision to smother or the way in which his body formed after the smother".

A key part of Maynard's defence centre around Brayshaw deviating to the right - and right into his path - after he kicked the ball.

Collingwood's counsel even presented some coloured 'lanes' from behind the goals vision to show how Maynard ran in a straight line and Melbourne's midfielder had drifted significantly to the right.

"When I was in the air and smothering the ball, I looked at the football, felt like I made connection, then turned my head to land and thought 'sh*t, he's there'," Maynard said.

"It was a surprise he had come into my way.

"It was almost like a flinch reaction. I seized up.

"Next thing I know he was on the floor, and I was a bit rattled myself."

Collingwood counsel Ben Ihle said players who kick the ball at full tilt with their right foot go off to their left, rather than their right, as Brayshaw did.

AFL counsel Andrew Woods contended Maynard could have changed his landing by either outstretching his arms or opening them up to embrace Brayshaw.

However, with evidence from Professor Michael Cole, Collingwood argued Maynard had no time – less than 400 milliseconds from the kick, and even less once it passed his fingertips – to make a conscious decision on a change of landing.

"Once airborne, Mr Maynard had no opportunity to avoid the collision," Cole said.

"Based on the numbers and based on the research, it's difficult to conclusively say Mr Maynard would have been able to make any conscious decision to reposition his body.

"It's more an innate reflexive response."

He added: "Once he's in flight, he's essentially a projectile. Like a frisbee with arms and legs."

It was also good news for Martin, whose entire case for his hit on Sydney's Blakey centred on downgrading the charge from high impact to medium.

The Blues said Blakey's ability to play out the match following a successful Head Injury Assessment should count in their forward's favour. And it did.

They successfully compared it to the Jacob van Rooyen incident from last Thursday night, where the Melbourne forward was suspended for one match – with a classification of medium impact – for his elbow on Magpie Dan McStay.

Gleeson said although the incidents were not the same, the potential to cause injury should fall under the same bracket.

Carlton also cited similar incidents involving Jason Horne-Francis on Josh Kelly last year and Marlion Pickett on Brandon Starcevich that were graded as medium.

Martin will now be available for a preliminary final should Carlton defeat Melbourne on Friday night.