BRISBANE midfielder Jarrod Berry is free to face Geelong in Friday night's preliminary final after having his one-match suspension overturned at the Tribunal on Tuesday night.

Berry was charged with intentional contact to the eye region of Melbourne's Clayton Oliver in last Friday night's semi-final, but after two-and-a-half hours of evidence, it took the panel just 20 minutes to deliberate and give the Lions the verdict they craved.

The Tribunal agreed with Brisbane that Berry's actions were not unreasonable in the circumstances, but more in self-defence as he tried to pry Oliver off him.

"Berry's action with his left hand occurred because he felt pressure to his throat," Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said.

"He felt under threat and his intention was to get Oliver off him. This would be a natural, human reaction to feeling forceful pressure to the throat."

Gleeson said Berry had limited visibility of Oliver's face and had no clear view he was making contact with Oliver's eye region.

"It was fleeting and not forceful, no injury and little to no discomfort to Oliver," he said.

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In a lengthy hearing, the Lions called on Luke Hodge as a character witness, a neurologist to outline why Berry's reaction was a protective mechanism, but most importantly the 24-year-old spoke at length to defend himself.

Berry said he felt "under threat" with Oliver on him and was flailing around with legs and arms to free himself.

"My intentions were to get him off me … by pushing him or grabbing his jumper and pulling him off me, but I was in quite a vulnerable position," Berry said.

"If I laid there without a reaction, I was concerned I might lose consciousness.

"I did not intentionally make contact with Clayton's face. I truly believe that. I was just trying to get him off me."

Brisbane argued there was pressure on Berry's throat, the only accessible region he could push Oliver off was his face because he his left arm was so restricted, that he couldn't see Oliver's face, and that it was a "fleeting" incident.

The Tribunal ultimately agreed with all of those points.

BLOG RECAP All the news from Jarrod Berry's Tribunal appeal

The Lions threw everything at the case to defend their rugged midfielder, even taking evidence from Dr Damian Amato, a neurologist based in Brisbane.

Dr Amato said Berry's actions were consistent with someone protecting himself with a forearm on his throat.

"The danger of that is obstruction of his airway and reducing oxygen supply to the brain," Dr Amato said.

"It's obvious from the footage he's not moving in one single manner, but flailing all limbs to get Oliver off him and relieve pressure from his airway.

"He was protecting himself."