GREATER Western Sydney and Brisbane will head to the AFL Appeal Board this week in a last-ditch attempt to free Toby Bedford and Charlie Cameron respectively from three-game bans that were upheld at the Tribunal on Tuesday night.

Bedford's chase-down tackle on Richmond's Tim Taranto on Sunday, which was originally graded as careless, severe impact and high contact by the Match Review Officer, has seen the Giant rubbed out for three pivotal games against Gold Coast, Melbourne and Hawthorn.

Cameron's tackle on West Coast's Liam Duggan currently has him sidelined for upcoming games against Sydney, Gold Coast and St Kilda.

Despite both clubs failing in their appeals at the Tribunal on Tuesday night, they will head to the Appeal Board - likely on Thursday evening - in another attempt to free their players.

Under AFL guidelines, a Tribunal decision can be challenged at the Appeal Board on one of the following grounds:

* Error of law
* That the decision was so unreasonable that no Tribunal acting reasonably could have come to the decision having regard to the evidence before it
* Classification of offence manifestly excessive or inadequate
* Sanction imposed manifestly excessive or inadequate

Just last week, Sydney unsuccessfully appealed Isaac Heeney's one-game striking ban that ruled him out of Brownlow Medal contention.

On Wednesday morning, AFL.com.au's chief correspondent Damian Barrett said the suspension handed to Bedford has created confusion across the game, adding the League needs to clarify what and what is not considered a legal tackle.

"If the game ... has got this 10-year plan to remove the tackle, just tell us," Barrett said on the AFL Daily podcast.

"I can live with that. I can always live with with an authority telling us what is and isn't allowed, provided they're open about it. I'm not sure they'd want that, though. I'm sure they'd want the usual grey and 50 cent bet each way.

"At the end of this season, there need to be a real clarity given. To have tackles like Toby Bedford's ... to lose three matches for an act that has been accepted forever without having a warning in advance that this is what's going to happen, I don't think this is where it was intended."

Giants skipper Toby Greene said banning Bedford for his tackle was a case of "overstepping the mark".

"When I first saw it, I was standing next to (Richmond's) Nathan Broad and having a discussion about it, we saw the replay and thought if Tim's concussed then they might give it a week and then you'd probably challenge it," Greene told Fox Footy.

00:56

Toby tackle leaves Taranto dazed as Tiger leaves field

Tim Taranto comes from the ground with concussion concerns after this tackle from Toby Bedford

Published on Jul 14, 2024

"Once he got three weeks, it doesn't seem right to me. He's making a legitimate play.

"I feel like this is overstepping the mark. 

"This is a tackle that you're going to see in AFL footy for the next 50 years. 

"If you eradicate this, you're just going to have to tackle standing up."

On Tuesday night, the Tribunal deliberated for about 30 minutes before upholding Bedford's ban.

"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," he said.

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.

On Tuesday night, Brisbane argued Cameron's actions weren't unreasonable in the circumstances, therefore didn't constitute rough conduct.

00:28

Is Charlie in trouble for this tackle?

Liam Duggan is taken from the field after a Charlie Cameron tackle drove his head into the ground

Published on Jul 14, 2024

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."

Speaking on Tuesday, Brisbane midfielder Josh Dunkley believes players are becoming hesitant to tackle, saying he didn't think Cameron could have done anything to change the outcome.

"It's a tough one. I was right there as a player and I obviously didn't know the outcome of what happened to Duggan, but I thought it was the perfect tackle," he said.

"I was telling him, he was a bit rattled by it instantly, but I said, and the umpire, everyone was saying at the time that it was a perfect tackle.

"So it's a very harsh penalty, but I mean, what do you do? It's hard to know as a player these days.

"Personally I go into tackles now worried about what the outcome's going to be.

"So you're very hesitant in what you're doing and I feel like that's going to impact everyone across the competition because guys are going to potentially hold back a little bit, and I don't know if that's what we want."