ST Kilda will be without half-back Ben Long for its semi-final clash with Richmond after the Saints' appeal of his one-game suspension failed. 

The Saint contested his one-match ban for engaging in rough conduct against Jack Macrae in last week's elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs. 

The AFL Tribunal upheld the suspension on Monday night but the Saints appealed that sanction on the grounds of it being an error of law and that the classification of the offence was "manifestly excessive".

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On Wednesday the Saints were also unsuccessful at the AFL Appeals Board in their bid to free Long to face the Tigers at Metricon Stadium.  

In a two-hour hearing that saw the panel deliberate for more than half an hour on its verdict, the Saints left unsuccessful, seeing Long ruled out of the clash, joining Paddy Ryder (hamstring) and Jake Carlisle (personal) as outs from the win over the Bulldogs. 

St Kilda challenged the AFL Tribunal's finding that Macrae's head "snapped back" upon contact from the bump from Long, seeking to add new evidence via a biomechanics expert tendered to the appeals board.

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However that was rejected by the Appeals Board, who said it didn't meet the threshold of adducing new material. 

Instead the Saints' legal team focused on the fact Long's bump caused no injury to Macrae, who played out the game after the first-term incident, describing it as "glancing contact". 

However the AFL countered that the potential impact of the action was apparent and that "a few millimetres either way" would have had a different outcome.

The Appeals Board sided with the AFL Tribunal’s decision, seeing the Saints’ attempt to have their player cleared dismissed.