Star defender Jacob Weitering is free to play in Carlton’s AFL elimination final against Sydney, avoiding suspension over his contact with GWS captain Toby Greene’s face.
But the news is not good for Greene’s teammate Toby Bedford, who will miss the Giants’ knockout clash with St Kilda after receiving a one-match ban for rough conduct against Blues speedster Zac Fisher.
Weitering came under scrutiny for making brief contact with his fingers near Greene’s eye during Sunday’s heated clash at Marvel Stadium.
Greene later fanned the flames, predicting Weitering might be in trouble with the match review officer.
On Monday, Weitering was charged with making “unreasonable or unnecessary contact” to Greene’s eye region and was handed a $3000 fine.
The penalty can be reduced to $2000 with an early guilty plea.
Crucially, Weitering’s action was graded as careless conduct, low impact and high contact.
Under the AFL’s table of offences, a grading of intentional conduct would have resulted in a one-match ban.
It means he will line-up against Sydney when Carlton end a decade-long finals drought at the MCG next week.
Weitering attempted to pull Greene off Blues teammate Mitch McGovern when the pair tangled moments before half-time on Sunday.
The All-Australian defender appeared to move his hand away when he realised he had made contact with Greene’s face.
Greene has attracted scrutiny over similar incidents in the past and missed the Giants’ 2019 preliminary final win because of a one-match ban.
“He might be in trouble,” Greene told Fox Footy.
“I think I got in trouble for that, so we’ll see how he goes.
“I was hoping for a free kick. That’s fine.”
Carlton coach Michael Voss was always confident Weitering would be free to play in the elimination final.
“I’m sort of comfortable with the commentary around it, so I’ll leave it at that,” Voss said post-match.
“(Weitering) is pretty important – I think that’s probably stating the real obvious. He’s had a fantastic year.”
Bedford caught Fisher high while attempting to shepherd for a teammate and was suspended for a second time this month, following his ban for a dangerous tackle on Sydney’s Ollie Florent in round 21.