Adelaide Crows forward Darcy Fogarty has seen his three-week suspension for striking Sydney's Harry Cunningham upheld at the Tribunal on Monday night.
Conventional wisdom suggested Fogarty and the Crows' defence were always going to face an uphill battle when it came to clearing Fogarty's name, given the concussion sustained by the veteran Swan.
Fogarty's act was initially deemed careless conduct, high contact, and severe impact - a combination that delineates a three-match suspension.
Harry Cunningham went down into the rooms after this tackle from Darcy Fogarty.#AFLSwansCrows pic.twitter.com/fSx8ImAY68
— AFL (@AFL) July 17, 2026
Given the impact grading was the only grading that appeared a matter of interpretation, and the 231-gamer was concussed, it was unclear the levers the Crows would attempt to pull in freeing their red-hot sharpshooter from the consequences of his unfortunate mistake.
The lever chosen quickly became apparent, with the Crows attempting to argue that the charge should have been for rough conduct, as opposed to striking. Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC addressed that attempted pivot in handing down the Tribunal's findings.
"We are comfortably satisfied with the finding that Mr. Fogarty's was an act of striking," he said.
Cunningham will miss Sydney's clash with cross-town rivals GWS this week, with both sides desperate for victories following losses at favourites, last time out.
Fogarty will miss the opportunity to feast on some of the competition's poorer defences, with clashes against Essendon and Richmond two of the three the South Australian will now miss.
The third is this week's bumper Thursday night clash against modern rivals Collingwood - a side that had the wood over the Crows until recently. The Magpies had won 10 games on the trot against the Crows, before Matthew Nicks' men defeated the Pies in two of their last three meetings. The Crows did lose when it mattered most, stumbling to the might of "Fly's Pies" in last year's qualifying final.
