Essendon forward Daria Bannister will miss the clash with ladder leaders Brisbane after her one-match ban for a dangerous tackle was upheld at the AFLW Tribunal.
Bannister's slinging tackle on Collingwood captain Steph Chiocci was assessed as careless conduct, high contact and medium impact, ruling her out of Sunday's match.
Jeremy Whelen, acting for Bannister, argued the tackle should have been downgraded to low impact, which would have resulted in a fine instead of a suspension.
Chiocci herself accepted a one-match ban for her retaliation in which she struck Bannister in the throat.
Whelen argued Bannister took the heat out of the tackle halfway through once the ball spilled out, and that Chiocci's arms were free by the end of the movement.
"There's a heavy tackle here with a spinning motion. But it wasn't the lifting and dumping action. It wasn't the violent driving-into-the-ground tackle," Whelen said.
"Initially it was just a good tackle. It was a body and arms tackle.
"It's as if the air gets pulled out of this tackle halfway through ... and that's probably why there was no injury.
"There's no sense in which she (Chiocci) is groggy or out for the count. She straight away retaliates. She took her 50m penalty and took her kick."
Nick Pane, acting on behalf of the AFLW, argued the tackling action had the potential to cause a serious injury.
AFLW Tribunal chair Renee Enbom was satisfied the grading of medium impact accurately reflected the incident.
"Ms Bannister flung her opponent around with force, which created real momentum," Enbom said.
"Whilst her arms were not pinned throughout the tackle, she had limited opportunity to use her arms to protect herself, given she was being flung around at speed. She hit the ground with force."
Geelong star Georgie Prespakis will also front the AFLW Tribunal in a bid to contest her two-match ban for a dangerous tackle that concussed St Kilda ruck Erin McKinnon.
Both of McKinnon's arms were pinned in the tackle, and her head slammed into the turf when she was brought to ground.
She lay motionless for about a minute before being subbed out with concussion.
The incident was assessed as careless conduct, high impact, and high contact.
If Prespakis is unsuccessful in downgrading the charge, she will miss games against the fifth-placed Western Bulldogs and 10th-placed Essendon.
Prespakis has tallied 32 and 25 possessions in her past two games, and looks crucial to Geelong's finals hopes.
The Cats sit sixth with a 3-2 record.
