Hawks skipper has ban wiped after Tribunal ruling

Hawthorn captain Jai Newcombe is free to play in Opening Round after the Tribunal wiped his one match suspension.

In the Hawks’ 44-point Community Series loss to the Western Bulldogs, the star midfielder laid a rough tackle on Ed Richards, whose head made contact with the ground after being left in a compromised position.

Newcombe’s case wasn’t helped by the fact that he had pinned one of Richard’s arms during the tackle.

With the MRO grading the tackle as medium impact, careless and high contact, the midfielder was initially scratched from the club's season opener.

Facing the music on Tuesday afternoon, Newcombe was deemed free to play after the Hawks successfully argued to the Tribunal that the impact was low instead of medium.

Newcombe has instead been fined for the tackle.

The Hawks and Giants will play each other on March 7 at ENGIE Stadium with the match starting at 4:15pm AEDT.