Giant relief for AFL

ISRAEL Folau will make his AFL debut on Saturday night after the match review panel reached the conclusion everyone expected and cleared him of two rough conduct charges.

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ISRAEL Folau will make his AFL debut on Saturday night after the match review panel reached the conclusion everyone expected and cleared him of two rough conduct charges.

GWS host the Swans in a stand-alone fixture at ANZ Stadium to start the premiership season and Folau's presence for the Giants is crucial to the league's hopes of attracting a record crowd for a start-up club.

No player received a suspension in a busy night for the panel but a total of eight players, including Folau's former rugby league teammate Karmichael Hunt, received fines.

Brisbane Lion Pearce Hanley was cleared of charging Essendon's Michael Hurley.

It would have been a tragedy on a comical scale had Folau, the league's $5 million man, been rubbed out on the eve of his AFL debut.

The 22-year-old was booked twice in the weekend's pre-season match against Richmond in Canberra.

The first incident involved a swinging tackle on Daniel Jackson late in the opening half and the second incident was a clash with Brett Deledio.

So sure were the Giants that he would be cleared CEO David Matthews broke with a long-standing tradition and went public with his belief Folau had no case to answer, before the panel sitting.

Matthews also dismissed a suggestion that Folau would have to modify his approach to contests.

"He tackles very well. He's just an exceptionally strong guy," he said. "Both incidents involved tackling, so the degree to which he's tackling - that's really going to be the question.

"It's nothing untoward (and) there was nothing outside the spirit of the game, from what I could observe."

GWS coach Kevin Sheedy went on to Twitter to call the two decisions in Folau's favour "commonsense".

Geelong captain Joel Selwood tweeted: "had a feeling Israel Folau was always going to get the all clear to play this Sat night, did anyone else think differently?"

Selwood and Western Bulldog Liam Picken were both fined $900 for wrestling while Hunt was also slugged $900 for making contact with an umpire.

Melbourne, the Lions' opponents in round 1 on Saturday week at the MCG, also received some good fortune with midfielder Nathan Jones offered a reprimand for striking, due to his good record.

Fellow Dees Jared Rivers and Tom McDonald were offered reduced $1200 fines with early guilty pleas on charges from a fourth-quarter melee in their final NAB Cup game against Port Adelaide.