Brisbane Lions veteran Dayne Zorko has failed to overturn his one-match suspension at the AFL tribunal for making contact near opponent Luke Pedlar’s eye.
Zorko will miss his side’s clash with Hawthorn in round 13 after the tribunal upheld the match review officer’s verdict on Wednesday night.
Zorko’s hand went over Pedlar’s face when the pair tangled during the first quarter of the Crows’ win at Adelaide Oval last Sunday.
The 34-year-old, 239-game veteran pleaded not guilty to the charge of “unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the eye region” and was not called to give evidence.
Brisbane lawyer Adrian Anderson admitted Zorko made contact to Pedlar’s face with his right thumb and index finger.
But the Lions argued the video footage showed there was no direct contact with Pedlar’s eye region.
“The tribunal cannot be reasonably satisfied with the evidence before it that there was contact with the eye of Luke Pedlar,” Anderson said.

Anderson also referenced Adelaide’s medical report, which noted Pedlar was checked by the club doctor at his next interchange rotation but “did not recall incident and reported no contact to eye region”.
AFL lawyer Sam Bird said footage showed Zorko’s thumb and index finger in “a clawing motion down the face”.
“It was unnecessary, unreasonable contact to the eye region,” Bird said.
“The action ought to be seen as an attempt to intimidate a player in a way that, in the current game, has no place.”
The tribunal panel, which included past players Jason Johnson and Scott Stevens, agreed with the match review officer’s grading of Zorko’s actions as intentional conduct, low impact and high contact.
“The finger moves down and in our view into the vicinity of the eye socket,” AFL tribunal chair Renee Enbom KC said.
“Accordingly, we are satisfied that contact was made to the eye region.
“Contact was not made to the eye itself, which in our view explains why Mr Pedlar did not react to the incident.
“It also provides an explanation for the comment in the medical report.”
Fremantle midfielder Jaeger O’Meara was also set to front the tribunal on Wednesday night as he challenges a one-match suspension for rough conduct.
O’Meara was offered the ban for a dangerous tackle on Melbourne’s Charlie Spargo during the Dockers’ narrow win at the MCG last Saturday.
Carlton’s Adam Cerra and Adelaide’s Rory Laird became the first players to overturn bans for dangerous tackles this season when they were successful at the tribunal on Tuesday night.
Sydney co-captain Luke Parker was unsuccessful in his attempt to do the same, joining 16 other players who were suspended for dangerous tackles over the opening 10 rounds.
Parker will serve a one-match suspension in round 13, after Sydney’s mid-season bye this week.