RICHMOND spearhead Tom Lynch's striking charge has been thrown out and he is free to play West Coast on Thursday night.
The AFL Tribunal determined on Monday night that his alleged 'high' strike on Michael Hurley was of a negligible nature and didn't constitute a reportable offence.
>> WATCH THE INCIDENT IN THE PLAYER ABOVE
The Tigers premiership star successfully argued his contact on Hurley in Saturday night's win in Darwin was a "push" and "made contact to the chest".
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Lynch holds on to mark despite heavy collision with former teammate
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Yet another potential MRO incident for Lynch
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The jury, consisting of Wayne Henwood, Paul Williams and Shane Wakelin, was "not clearly satisfied" on the "balance of probabilities" that Lynch delivered a blow to Hurley.
It also found that Lynch was simply fending off Hurley "for the purposes of participating in play".
Lynch also avoided any fine for the action.
AFL representative Jeff Gleeson QC contended it was high and intentional conduct and that if the jury found that it was of enough impact to warrant a reportable offence, should be deemed low impact.
The jury took 21 minutes of deliberation to comes to its decision and find Lynch not guilty.
Lynch was sent to the Tribunal after his third striking charge of the season by Match Review Officer Michael Christian after previous fines for separate strikes on Gold Coast pair Jarrod Witts and Sam Collins.
The incident with Hurley was assessed by the Tribunal in isolation with none of his previous charges raised during the hearing.
