Lake cleared at tribunal

HAWTHORN defender Brian Lake succeeded in his bid to overturn a rough conduct charge on Tuesday night, avoiding a $1500 fine and a strike against his name going into finals.

Lake was charged by the Match Review Panel for pushing Richmond forward Ty Vickery into the MCG fence on Friday night, but he pleaded not guilty to the charge and said he had simply wanted to "play the contest out".

After a one-hour hearing, the jury of Stewart Loewe, Shane Wakelin and Paul Williams took only five minutes to throw the charge out.

"I didn't want to cause any force or push him into the fence and I think it was a good result," Lake said as he left AFL House.

"As his direct opponent I wanted to play the contest out, as I hadn't heard the boundary umpire's whistle.

"I just tried to stop him from coming back onto the ground."

Lake didn't give evidence on Tuesday night, with his counsel relying on footage as the only piece of evidence to show Lake's contact "doesn't change Vickery's momentum".

Opposing counsel Jeff Gleeson argued there was no need for Lake's contact, which took place one metre inside the boundary line at the MCG.

He called on field umpire Matt Stevic, who made the match-day report, to give evidence.

"In my view on the night it accelerated Vickery's movement into the fence," Stevic told the Tribunal.

"Looking at the incident now, I would say it's not a shove or a forceful push, but I maintain the force was enough to cause Vickery to go into the fence.

"It was over the line and the fence was quite close, with the potential for injury there."

Lake is yet to be found guilty of a low-level offence this season. Any player who is charged with three low-level offences is automatically suspended for one match.

Hawks Sam Mitchell and Josh Gibson have two strikes against their name, while Ryan Schoenmakers and Ben Stratton have one strike each.