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Eilish Sheerin remains free to play for Richmond after the AFL appeal board upheld the AFLW tribunal's finding that cleared her of intentional umpire contact.
Richmond star Eilish Sheerin remains free to play a week out from the AFLW finals after the appeal board rejected an AFL challenge against her tribunal win.
The three-man board took less than 15 minutes to reject the AFL's three grounds of appeal.
The league took the rare step of going to the appeal board after Tuesday night's marathon tribunal hearing, where Sheerin was cleared of intentional umpire contact.
Sheerin had been referred directly to the tribunal and was facing a significant ban if found guilty of the original charge. Instead, she was fined $200 for careless contact.
AFL counsel Andrew Woods KC argued the tribunal had made two errors of law, plus it had acted unreasonably in coming to its verdict.
But appeal board chair Will Houghton KC, along with former players Richard Loveridge and Wayne Henwood, took little time to uphold the original finding.
"The (tribunal) reasons as we've read tonight, in our view, are quite satisfactory - they tell us what went on, they tell us which evidence they accepted and they give a reasonable and rational conclusion," Houghton said.
"The appeal brought by the AFL is dismissed on all three grounds."
The appeal took barely 45 minutes on Thursday afternoon, in stark contrast to the original hearing that went for well over two hours.
The tribunal verdict was a massive boost for the Tigers, with their midfield ace cleared in an unusual case.
Sheerin smiled and rubbed her hands together after the verdict.
The incident involved Sheerin pushing Essendon opponent Georgia Nanscawen at a stoppage, with less than two minutes left of Saturday night's Dreamtime in Darwin draw.
Nanscawen fell over and the umpire, backing away after throwing up the ball, then fell over the Essendon onballer.
Earlier on Thursday, Nanscawen said it wasn't her place to give her opinion on the collision.
"I haven't been asked to comment on it so I'll let them do what they would like to," she said.
"Obviously, umpire contact's been quite a focus this season.
"So yeah, I'll leave it to them to discuss."
But Nanscawen did remember the incident amid a "chaotic two minutes" where Essendon were attempting to scrap out a win.
"I remember contacting the umpire, and didn't know what that would mean," she added.
"So yeah, we'll see what plays out."
Any ban for the two-time All-Australian would have been a massive blow for the Tigers, who are sixth and half a game off the double chance with one round before the finals.
Richmond's ladder position will be determined by their home game on Sunday against second-placed Hawthorn. All but one of the games this weekend will shape the top eight.