Melbourne have failed their bid to turn around Kysaiah Pickett's one-match ban at the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday with the panel upholding the MRO's decision ending the 22-year-old's chances to match up against Brisbane on Thursday night.
Pickett was handed his third ban for high contact in just over 12 months on Friday for his bump on Adelaide's Jake Soligo in last week's Gather Round opener.
Kysaiah Pickett has received a one-match suspension for this incident involving Jake Soligo.
— AFL (@AFL) April 5, 2024
The MRO graded the incident careless conduct, high contact and medium impact with Melbourne unsuccessfully arguing the third piece of criteria on Tuesday.
Pickett did not appear, but submitted a written statement pleading his intention was not to bump, but to intercept or catch the ball as Soglio handpassed in the incident.
According to AAP, Melbourne argued Pickett was bracing for impact when the two collided.
After less than 30 minutes of deliberation, Panel chair Jeff Gleeson confirmed adjudication, with the Dees unable to downgrade the careless conduct charge.
"The contact had the potential to cause injury. A concussion or facial injury was a realistically possible outcome," Gleeson said, via AAP.
Pickett had already sat out of Melbourne's Opening Round loss to Sydney last month on sanction from a high bump on Carlton captain Patrick Cripps in last year's finals series.
