Tamara Smith has been cleared of the significant bump that resulted in a three-game suspension from the AFLW.
Following an extensive tribunal hearing on Sunday night, Smith was found not guilty due to uncertainty regarding whether high contact occurred.
During the second term of last Thursday’s match against Geelong, which the Hawks won by three goals, Smith’s hip-and-shoulder shepherd concussed Geelong forward Kate Surman.
Initially facing the possibility of one of the longest bans in AFLW history, Smith’s rough conduct charge was classified as careless conduct, severe impact, and high contact.
After deliberating for over an hour and a half, tribunal chair Renee Enbom KC announced that Smith was free to play.
“We are not satisfied to the requisite standard that Ms. Smith’s bump on player Surman involved high contact,” Enbom stated in the tribunal’s findings. “The video of the incident is inconclusive on that issue. It clearly shows forceful shoulder-on-shoulder contact between the players, but it does not capture Smith’s shoulder making contact with Surman’s head, neck, or top of her shoulder.”
As the tribunal was not convinced that Smith’s bump involved high contact, the charge was dismissed. Enbom noted that Smith provided “unequivocal” evidence that she only felt shoulder contact with Surman.
Although Surman was propelled backward by the impact, Enbom indicated that the tribunal was not satisfied that her head hit the ground as a direct result of the bump.
Hawthorn, currently in fourth place, will host Gold Coast on Wednesday night. Surman is set to miss Tuesday’s match in Geelong against Fremantle.
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