Sydney Swans defender Ted Richards says he is relieved to have been found not guilty of rough conduct at the tribunal in Melbourne tonight.

"I'm excited that the decision turned out well and that I'm free to play this weekend against Port. I'm grateful to my QC and to the Club for supporting me,'' Richards said after leaving the hearing.

Richards contested the charge laid by the match review panel after an incident involving Western Bulldogs player Lindsay Gilbee in the second quarter of the game at Manuka Oval last Saturday.

Tribunal member Wayne Henwood said the tribunal was satisfied that Richards bumped Gilbee, but was not satisfied there was contact to Gilbee’s neck or head, so he was not guilty of the charge.

Richards, Swans general manager, football, Dean Moore, and IT manager Anthony Cahill travelled to Melbourne for tonight's tribunal hearing.

Richards, who has been in strong form for the Swans, was facing a one match ban if he had not been cleared.

The finding leaves Richards clean record intact - he had never been charged before during a 139 game career that began in 2002.

Richards, questioned at the tribunal by his legal representative, David Galbally, QC, said he had approached Gilbee to try to win the ball. When it didn’t bounce his way, he expected Gilbee to get it, and readied himself to tackle the Bulldogs player.

However Gilbee then knocked the ball forward.

Richards said he stopped in his tracks but couldn’t avoid contact with Gilbee, but he  leant away from his opponent to lessen any impact.

Richards said he believed he had made contact only with Gilbee’s shoulder.

The Swans football  technology manager, Anthony Cahill, said the incident happened five minutes before half time, and Gilbee had 16 possessions after half time.

Tribunal counsel Andrew Tinney SC said footage showed Richards did make high contact with his shoulder to Gilbee’s chin.

But David Galbally QC argued that Richards stopped when Gilbee knocked the ball forward and was stationary when the impact came. He said it was actually Gilbee’s momentum that carried him into the Swans defender.

He said it wasn’t a bump and the contact was unavoidable. The umpire had been in perfect position to pay a free kick if there had been head high contact, and he made no call.

Richards is now free to play in Saturday night’s game against Port Adelaide at the SCG.