ADELAIDE gun Rory Laird and Carlton star Adam Cerra have had their one-match bans for dangerous tackles overturned at the Tribunal on Tuesday night.
But Luke Parker wasn't as lucky with the Sydney co-captain failing to overturn his own one-match ban for a dangerous tackle.
Laird was charged with rough conduct for a dangerous tackle on Lions star Lachie Neale. The tackle was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.
However, he successfully argued his case and is now free to play Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Cerra was charged with rough conduct for his swivelling tackle on Hickey that resulted in the Swans ruckman being slammed back-first into the ground.
Hickey's head whipped back and struck the turf after being brought down, but the Swans big man escaped a concussion.
The nature of Hickey's long hair meant the action of his head hitting the ground was somewhat accentuated and it didn't escape the attention of Cerra's lawyer Peter O'Farrell.
"The hair on this particular player is an unhelpful distraction and we ask you not to be distracted by it," he said.
Lisa Hannon, acting for the AFL, noted the "very fine hair-do", but said there was other evidence that proved how dangerous the tackle was.
"I think if you look at that vision from many angles you won't be for one second distracted by his hair upon seeing the impact as his head hits the ground," she said.
Cerra argued he barely had a grip on Hickey and was off-balance as the Swans ruckman tried to barge through him.
"I was falling. I've tried to get a grip with my right arm coming around," Cerra said.
"This is a big guy coming through me.
"I didn't pin his arms. I didn't get a grip in the tackle at all. The footage showed I had two fingers around his left tricep and the other arm around his back.
"I did not lift Hickey. His momentum was ploughing through me. I'm not in a position of strength to lift up a guy of that size."
The Tribunal panel, led by chairman Jeff Gleeson, found it wasn't a dangerous tackle.
"Cerra only has a light grip on Hickey's arms. They are not truly pinned," Gleeson said.
"Hickey could use one or both of his arms."
The result frees Cerra for Friday night's clash with Melbourne at the MCG.
Parker will miss Sydney's round 13 clash with the Saints after his one-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Carlton star Sam Walsh was upheld.
The midfielder argued he tried to lower his centre of gravity when laying a tackle on Walsh and showed a level of care for the Blues player.
"I don't think I went in with excessive force once we went to the ground," Parker told the Tribunal.
"Once the tackle took place, at no time did I feel he was in a vulnerable position.
"I was dragging my feet across the ground while he had a pretty good stance."
But the Tribunal panel disagreed.
Walsh was able to take his free kick and was not injured by the tackle, but the AFL's legal representative Sally Flynn argued the Carlton player was dazed.
The cases involving Fremantle's Jaeger O'Meara (rough conduct for a dangerous tackle) and Lions veteran Dayne Zorko (making contact to the eye region) will be held on Wednesday night.
A total of 17 players have been suspended for dangerous tackles across the opening 10 rounds, with Cerra and Laird the first to have their bans overturned.
