Collingwood's Billy Frampton will be free to face Carlton after overturning a one-game suspension at the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night.
The Magpies argued that the tackle on Matt Whitlock in the last quarter should not be considered a dangerous tackle, and that the impact was low, not medium.
While Collingwood was unsuccessful in overturning the rough conduct charge, the impact was downgraded to low, reducing the sanction to a fine.
"We find that Mr Frampton did engage in rough conduct in tackling player Whitlock," chair Renee Enbom KC said.
"He pinned both of Mr Whitlock's arms until the very last moment. This meant that Mr Whitlock could not use either arm to protect himself as he was taken to ground. A reasonable player would not regard it as prudent to hold both arms until the last moment. A reasonable player would have released at least one of Mr Whitlock's arms earlier, as he was falling to ground, especially given the force being used to take him to ground.
"It's the combination of pinning both arms at all relevant times, and the force used to take Mr Whitlock to ground that makes the tackle careless. As to impact on balance, we find it to be low.
"The vision shows that while Mr Whitlock's head did hit the ground, the force was reduced by his knee and shoulder first making contact with the ground.
"This is relevant to both the force with which his head hit the ground and also the potential for injury. We've looked at the vision, and Mr Whitlock does not appear to be in any discomfort following the tackle. We know from the medical report that mr. Whitlock didn't suffer an injury.
"We've also carefully compared the incident to the other tackles relied upon by Mr Frampton, and we consider that the impact to be similar to those examples. Accordingly, we uphold the charge but reclassify the impact as low."
The AFL argued Whitlock was slung, driven or rotated into the ground with excessive force, whereas the Magpies argued Frampton did what he was coached to do and Whitlock's knee, hip, elbow and shoulder took most of the force.
It's an important tribunal win for Collingwood given Frampton has been a crucial cog in the backline in the absence of Darcy Moore this year.
