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Port Adelaide star Robbie Gray will serve a one-match ban for his bump on West Coast's Jeremy McGovern in a pre-season match.
Port Adelaide will be without star Robbie Gray for the opening round of the season after the AFL tribunal upheld his one-match ban.
AFL match review officer Michael Christian charged Gray with rough conduct for his high bump on West Coast's Jeremy McGovern in Sunday's pre-season game at Leederville Oval.
In the first tribunal test of the revamped match review system, Port's legal team argued Gray had braced for impact rather than deliberately bumped McGovern, who was treated for a concussion.
But after just six minutes of deliberation, tribunal members Wayne Henwood, Richard Loveridge and Michael Jamison ruled against the Power on Tuesday night.
Gray will now miss the season-opener against Fremantle at Adelaide Oval on March 24.
Under the new system, Port didn't risk increasing the ban with an unsuccessful trip to the tribunal, but they do forfeit a $10,000 fee that counts against their football department's soft cap with the decision.
Gray and club legal counsel Mark Griffin QC appeared via videolink from Adelaide for the hearing at Etihad Stadium that lasted just over an hour.
Griffin argued that Gray had just 1.28 seconds from the time the ball bounced to when contact between the pair occurred and had no other alternatives available to him.
"I tried to slow down, I braced, pulled my arm in and tried to protect myself and minimise the impact as much as I could," Gray said in his evidence.
"I realised there would be some sort of contact and I just tried to minimise that.
"I tried to brace myself."
McGovern lay dazed on the turf after Gray's right shoulder made contact with the side of his head.
He left the field under his own steam, but was assessed for a concussion and didn't return.
An Eagles' medical report stated assessment was ongoing on Monday and it was unclear how much training or how many games, if any, the star defender would miss.
AFL legal counsel Andrew Woods successfully argued Gray could have taken alternative action - either contest the ball or tackle McGovern - and that he laid a bump rather than braced for impact in a football incident.
