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Fyfe's two-game ban upheld

Fyfe to miss two games

Nat Fyfe has had his bid to reduce his two-match ban dismissed at the AFL Tribunal this afternoon.

General manager of football operations Chris Bond confirmed in the wake of the verdict that the club would consider its options.

Fyfe’s two game ban will stand, ruling him out until the club’s first final.

He also now has 76.25 carryover points hanging over his head, as well as a 40 per cent bad record loading for having six games suspension within in the past two years.

Fyfe was charged by the match review panel yesterday for striking Hawthorn’s Jordan Lewis in the first quarter of Fremantle’s 19-point win at Patersons Stadium on Sunday.

The panel graded the incident as intentional, high contact and low impact but Fyfe’s lawyer, Melbourne-based Nick Tweedie, tried to argue it was a reckless action, rather than intentional because Fyfe had intended to hit Lewis’ body.

But chairman Ross Howie almost immediately indicated that the fact Fyfe admitted he intentionally struck Lewis meant it could not be re-classified as reckless.

Fyfe gave evidence that he was playing on Lewis at the time on the incident and was attempting to stop him getting goal side of him by checking him with a “bumper bar maneuver “ to the chest.

The 22-year-old star midfielder conceded his bicep had connected with Lewis’ shoulder in an “aggressive action” and the contact had slipped high into the Hawks’ neck area.

A medical report from Hawthorn revealed Lewis had been checked at the time of the incident and cleared to return to the field. He has no ongoing issues as a result of the contact.

Tweedie repeatedly tried to argue the offence down from a level three to a level two, which would have reduced the ban to just one game.

But Howie directed the jury of Wayne Henwood, David Neitz and David Pittman to find Fyfe guilty of the initial charge.

Bond admitted it had been a “little bit” of an unusual hearing.

“Obviously we’re really disappointed with the outcome,” he said.

“But I think it’s just a good chance to sit down tonight and tomorrow morning and just assess what our options are.

“The AFL and our club have an enormous amount of respect for Nat as a ball player. I think it’s important for us just to get all the information and go from there.”