Brisbane defender Harris Andrews has failed to overturn his one-match ban for striking North Melbourne youngster Nick Larkey at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night.
Andrews' own evidence, in which he revealed Larkey's teeth "clattered" as a result of the strike, proved crucial in the Tribunal upholding the Match Review's initial ruling.
He will subsequently miss Brisbane's upcoming clash with Hawthorn in Launceston.
Andrews had been offered a one-match ban by the Match Review, with his off-the-ball strike deemed by Michael Christian to be intentional with low impact to the head.
However, the Brisbane defender pleaded not guilty to two of those assessments – that the impact to Larkey was not made high and that the impact was negligible.
Brisbane had attempted to read a statement made by Larkey, which was due to suggest that the strike initially made contact with his arm before deflecting towards his throat.
However, the AFL's legal counsel, Jeff Gleeson QC, opposed this, arguing that victim players often feel compelled to protect the accused player within their evidence.
The Tribunal's chairman, Ross Howie, ultimately sided with Gleeson, suggesting it didn't matter how the strike ended where it did, and saying: "A strike is a strike."
Instead, Brisbane's argument became that it was "a collision initiated by Larkey … not a strike", also relying on the Tribunal to rule that it didn't meet a 'low impact' grading.
Andrews was also called to provide evidence, saying he was standing his ground and did not go out of his way to strike Larkey – who he thought was attempting to block him.
The club's vice-captain said he immediately went to check on the welfare of Larkey, saying it was not his intention to strike his opponent and that he didn't mean to catch him high.
He also crucially said that he heard Larkey's teeth "clattered" as a result of the strike. Gleeson later argued that if the force of a strike to the throat was enough to make someone's teeth clatter, then it was sufficient enough to warrant a 'low impact' grading.
It proved the defining moment in the case, with the Tribunal taking just four minutes to uphold the initial ruling and subsequently confirming Andrews' one-match ban.
