Saint has AFLW tribunal win ahead of Demons clash

St Kilda have had a significant win at the AFLW tribunal, with star midfielder Jaimee Lambert found not guilty of a dangerous tackle.

Lambert was facing a one-game suspension for the rough conduct charge and will now play in Sunday’s big home game against Melbourne.

The Saints improved to seventh after beating GWS on Tuesday, while the Demons are 11th, a game and percentage behind, after Wednesday’s upset two-point win over Adelaide.

The tribunal took more than an hour deliberating before chair Renee Enbom KC ruled in Lambert’s favour.

Lambert, a two-time All-Australian, was one of the Saints’ best against the Giants.

But she found herself in suspension strife for a tackle on Alyce Parker, where she grabbed the GWS opponent’s right wrist to stop her handballing.

The incident was graded careless, medium impact and high contact.

But Enbom said the tackle was not rough conduct, noting Parker’s left arm was not held or pinned.

She added Parker’s right arm was not pinned close to her body, meaning the forearm hit the ground before her head.

“Some force was used in the tackle, but it was not excessive. Lambert did not use her left arm, that was around Parker’s waist, to drive her to the ground,” Enbom said.

“In fact, the left arm was released towards the end of the tackle. She did not use her right hand to pull Parker by her wrist to ground with excessive force (and) it is those features of the tackle that cause us to conclude that Lambert’s conduct was not unreasonable in the circumstances and she did not breach her duty of care.”

But Enbom added that had Lambert not pulled Parker backwards, then the GWS player likely would have been badly hurt and “the situation would be different.”