Sydney star Lance Franklin has had his one-match ban for striking upheld at the AFL Tribunal on Wednesday night.
The Swans have failed in their attempts to overturn Franklin’s suspension meaning the champion forward will miss Saturday night’s match against Melbourne at the MCG.
Franklin’s open-handed shove to the face of Richmond’s Trent Cotchin was graded as intentional, low impact and high contact by the MRO.
“We are just going to challenge the MRO’s view of it was an intentional strike,” Swans coach John Longmire told reporters on Monday.
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AFL counsel Andrew Woods said during the hearing: “It’s cowardly. The opposing player isn’t expecting that to happen to them.
“It’s not fight club or some combat sport.”
Franklin’s counsel Duncan Miller believes Cotchin exaggerated his head movement.
“I’m tempted to say he might be invited to the Logies and not the Brownlow this year,” Miller said.
Franklin starred with five goals in the Swans’ six-point win over the Tigers last Friday night.