Adelaide defender Rory Laird will be unavailable to face Collingwood after unsuccessfully challenging his one-match suspension for his bump on West Coast forward Jamie Cripps.

Laird was cited by the Match Review Officer (MRO) during Sunday's clash at Optus Stadium, where the ladder-leading Crows survived a scare from the soon-to-be 2025 wooden spooners.

In the third term, Cripps can be seen to be met with Laird's shoulder to his jaw in an attempt to tackle, prompting the MRO's involvement.

The incident was graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.

The AFL argued Laird's eyes were on Cripps rather than the footy, while Laird's representative, Andrew Culshaw, contended that the Crows player was trying to push Cripps off his kick, rather than bump as he does not tuck his arm in or launch himself.

"Rory Laird quite sensibly does not dispute the classification of the charge," the Tribunal chair said.

"His case is that his conduct does not constitute rough conduct. He contends that he did not elect to bump his opponent and he did not bump him.

"He submitted that the vision and stills show that he pushed his opponent. He submitted that it was a push gone wrong, but it was not unreasonable in the circumstances.

"We have carefully examined all of the evidence and we find Laird did bump his opponent, and in doing so, he made high contact.

"Laird sensibly conceded that if the Tribunal was satisfied that the conduct involved a high bump that the charge is to be upheld. Accordingly we uphold the charge."

 2025-08-16T09:35:00Z 
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