ALEX Davies, Toby Bedford and Charlie Cameron will all miss their sides' next three matches after the trio failed to overturn suspensions on Tuesday evening.
Each player challenged their respective bans at the AFL Tribunal, but none were successful.
CAMERON'S CHALLENGE FAILS
In the first of three Tribunal hearings, Brisbane's Cameron attempted to overturn his sanction for a rough tackle that left West Coast's Liam Duggan concussed.
The incident was originally graded by the Match Review Officer as careless, severe impact and high contact, which triggered a three-match ban.
Brisbane argued Cameron's actions weren't unreasonable in the circumstances, therefore didn't constitute rough conduct.
However the Tribunal didn't agree and upheld the ban after deliberating for 45 minutes.
"Contrary to Cameron's evidence, we consider the vision clearly captures Cameron taking Duggan to ground forcefully," Tribunal chair Renee Enbom said.
"It is the combination of the excessive force used in driving Duggan backwards with both of his arms pinned that makes the tackle unreasonable in the circumstances.
"Those two features put Duggan in a highly vulnerable position."
Cameron drove Duggan into the ground in the opening minute of the second quarter at Optus Stadium on Sunday, with Duggan hitting the back of his head and immediately heading to the bench with trainers.
With both arms pinned, Cameron used his bodyweight to drive Duggan to ground and the premiership defender looked dazed as he made his way off before being substituted out of the game due to concussion.
Cameron said he lost his balance when his leg got caught up with Duggan.
"I thought I had him, then I lost my footing when he was fighting the tackle and it caused me to lose my balance," he told the Tribunal.
"I intended to stand up in the tackle … but he rotates his body and twists, so he's dragging me down when we get our feet tangled."
The AFL's lawyer Lisa Hannon said Cameron could have released Duggan's right arm as they began falling to ground, and argued the Lions star didn't need to drive his Eagles opponent into the Optus Stadium turf with force.
"The fact Cameron's foot may've become entangled with Duggan's was entirely foreseeable and not an exceptional circumstance in a close up tackle," Hannon told the Tribunal.
Cameron believed his coaches would be frustrated with him had he done what Hannon was suggesting.
"If I let him go in the tackle, I'd be in trouble," he said.
"I was trying to lock the ball inside my forward 50. Not a good look defensively (if he let go of the tackle)."
Cameron will return for round 22's clash against Greater Western Sydney.
The Lions forward was staring at a one-game suspension earlier in the year for a tackle on Melbourne's Jake Lever, but Brisbane argued successfully to have the ban overturned due to Cameron's "good character".
BEDFORD'S BID UNSUCCESSFUL
In the second case heard before the Tribunal, Greater Western Sydney argued Bedford's chase-down tackle on Richmond's Tim Taranto was not careless conduct nor a reportable offence.
The incident was originally graded as careless, severe impact and high contact, which attracted a three-week ban.
The challenge was unsuccessful, meaning Bedford will miss Greater Western Sydney's next three matches against Gold Coast, Melbourne and Hawthorn..
The Tribunal deliberated for about 30 minutes.
“A reasonable player in Bedford’s circumstances would have realised that by leaping at Taranto in the way that he did from behind was likely to drive him into the ground,” AFL Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said.
Bedford thought he “executed the perfect tackle”.
“Even if I let go, I don’t think it would’ve made much of a difference. I don’t think I had enough time to do that,” the Giants utility told the Tribunal.
The AFL’s lawyer Lisa Hannon believed Bedford should have kept his feet and stayed more upright in the tackle.
GWS's legal representative Anais d'Arville was scathing of the AFL's arguments.
"Bedford was faced with the choice of tackling in the manner he did or not tackling at all," d'Arville said.
Bedford's tackle on Taranto at the MCG ended the star Tiger's day midway through the last quarter of Sunday's clash.
The Giants tagger dived on Taranto as he grabbed the ball out of a ruck contest, with the midfielder suffering a concussion from the impact.
DAVIES' BAN UPHELD
In the final hearing of the evening, Alex Davies was unsuccessful in his bid to overturn his three-game suspension for a clumsy run-in with Port Adelaide's Lachie Jones during Sunday's match.
The incident was considered to be forceful front-on contact and was graded as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact, attracting the ban.
Port's counsel argued Davies was contesting the ball so the contact was reasonable and did not constitute a reportable offence.
While the Tribunal agreed Davies was contesting the ball, it did not consider it reasonable to contest the ball in that way, therefore the ban was upheld.
The Power defender stood over a loose ball and was about to pick it up when Davies clattered into him at high speed, with Jones hitting the turf immediately before being escorted from the field. He failed a head injury assessment test and was substituted out of the game with concussion.
It was Davies' first game back in the senior team since round 11 after some strong VFL form.
Tuesday's AFL Tribunal schedule
- 4pm AEST: Charlie Cameron
- Not before 6.30pm AEST: Toby Bedford
- Not before 7.45pm AEST: Alex Davies
