Fremantle defender Luke McPharlin loses tribunal challenge against ban for front-on bump

UPDATE: Fremantle must tackle Adelaide's imposing tall forwards this round without key defender Luke McPharlin.

Luke McPharlin

FREMANTLE must tackle Adelaide's imposing tall forwards this round without key defender Luke McPharlin.

McPharlin has failed to convince an AFL Tribunal jury to overturn a one-match penalty for a front-on bump.

It's a blow to the ninth-placed Dockers, particularly with the second-placed Crows expecting Kurt Tippett to return as another forward option to Taylor Walker in the crucial battle in Adelaide on Saturday.

McPharlin argued by video-link to Perth that he made contact with West Coast forward Jack Darling's upper arm as he tried to knock the ball from his grasp.

"It was my intention to dislodge my opponent of the football. It's a tactic I've used often,'' McPharlin told the hearing.

"There was no head-high contact. My bicep made contact with his upper arm. That's the way I saw it.''

The experienced Docker said he was well aware of the rule prohibiting high contact. "In this instance, it was outside that no-bump zone,'' he said.

The Docker also failed to convince the jury, Emmett Dunne, Wayne Schimmelbusch and Wayne Henwood, that teammate Matt De Boer's tackle on Darling drove the Eagle forward and made the contact appear more severe.

Dockers teammates, captain Matthew Pavlich and De Boer earlier accepted reprimands for striking and tripping offences.

Hawthorn has lost young midfielder Liam Shiels for Sunday's game against Port Adelaide in Launceston to a one-game suspension for striking Geelong's Allen Christensen.

St Kilda defender Tom Simpkin accepted a reprimand for a front-on bump and midfielder Brett Peake escaped with a fine from a misconduct charge of throwing the ball at a field umpire while playing with VFL affiliate Sandringham at Frankston last Sunday.

Peake, who hasn't played an AFL game since round 1, agreed to the undisclosed fine offered by the VFL Tribunal.