NORTH Melbourne small forward Lindsay Thomas has escaped suspension for his collision with young Swan Gary Rohan after successfully challenging a two-game ban at the Tribunal on Tuesday night.
Thomas was also charged with rough conduct by the Match Review Panel, after Rohan suffered a season-ending compound tibia fracture in their collision at the SCG last Sunday.
After being cleared by the Tribunal, Thomas' thoughts were with Rohan.
"Firstly I just want to apologise to Gary and just wish him all the best in his recovery," Thomas said, later adding he had left a message on Rohan's phone to the same effect on Monday.
"It wasn't intentional, it was just a freak accident and I wish him well for his recovery."
Earlier, under repeated questioning from counsel for the AFL, Geoff Gleeson SC, Thomas testified that: after observing teammate Shaun Atley and Swan Lewis Jetta overrun the ball in North's forward line, he had been "100 per cent" committed to contesting it and just as certain he would get to it first; after sliding into the ball, he had stuck his left leg out to better balance himself in the slippery conditions; he had then turned his body to the right, towards the ball in an attempt to trap it; and in doing so, he had eyes only for the ball and did not see the approaching Rohan until it was too late.
Gleeson argued that Thomas could have kept his feet as he approached the ball and avoided the dangerous contact that lead to Rohan's "catastrophic" injury.
Gleeson said Thomas' intentions as he attacked the ball where irrelevant and that an accident could constitute a reportable offence if a player breached a duty of care to his opponent.
Gleeson also tabled a memo from AFL football operations general manager Adrian Anderson that indicated there would be a crackdown on players sliding into contests in 2012. The memo was accompanied by a DVD that gave former North player Brady Rawlings' slide into Port Adelaide player Matt Thomas last year as an example of the type of action that should lead to report.
North argued there was little similarity between Rawlings' action and Thomas'. And Tribunal deputy chairman John Hassett directed the three-man Tribunal panel that Anderson's memo was an aid to interpreting the AFL laws, not part of the laws themselves.
After a 17-minute deliberation, Tribunal member David Pittman said it was not satisfied Thomas' action constituted rough conduct.
Thomas had been offered a two-match suspension by the MRP if he entered an early plea, but risked a three-match ban by challenging the charge at the Tribunal.
Thomas is now free to play against Gold Coast on Saturday at Etihad Stadium.
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