The 26-year-old booted four goals from four shots in the Crows' impressive away win over Sydney at the weekend, but the victory was soured by his high strike on Sydney's Harry Cunningham, which left his opponent with a significant concussion.
The Crows argued that the charge had been grossly misrepresented, characterising Fogarty's act as a 'high tackle' rather than a strike, the impact high rather than severe, and the grading of 'careless' as 'inappropriate'.
Fogarty told the Tribunal that he was "trying to grab the ball myself but once I saw him come in and get there first, I was still going to weigh up whether he's going to take the ball cleanly or not."
"My first thought was not to grab him low, so then it would tip his head towards the ground.
"Once he was landing and knew I was coming, I thought he would put his hands up to try and release the footy."
"I thought he was gonna stand up a little bit taller and raise his arms to release the footy.
"I was just trying to wrap him up and execute the tackle ... I adjusted as much as I could to try and get low whilst he went low.
"I tried to get my arms as low as I could.
"I knew I was going to make contact - and his momentum was heading towards my right."
AFL legal counsel Andrew Woods argued that the strike was 'careless' because it breached the duty of care that players owe to one another on the field.
Cunningham has entered concussion protocols and is almost certain to miss Sydney's upcoming derby against GWS Giants as a result.
Woods also said the 'severe impact' was an appropriate ruling on the basis that the hit "could have caused a broken bone, a blackout (or) facial bruising".
Cunningham also reported soreness on the left side of his jaw following the incident.
Crows' legal counsel disagreed with the assessment of the hit as rough or dangerous, describing it as "merely a high tackle and not a dangerous tackle" on the basis that Fogarty did not lift Cunningham off the ground nor place him in a dangerous position, whilst Cunningham was in a position to see the tackle coming.
After a half-hour deliberation, the Tribunal found in favour of the AFL and upheld the three-game suspension, describing it as "appropriate".
Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson said he and his colleagues, Jason Johnson and Darren Gaspar, were "satisfied that Darcy Fogarty committed the act of striking".
"He saw Harry Cunningham jump and reach for a loose ball. He had time to assess the situation and knew that by the time he made contact with Cunningham, the player would have descended from his jump to a level or height that Fogarty could, of course, not precisely determined," Gleeson added.
"Fogarty had time to consider how he would tackle Cunningham in those circumstances. He chose to do so by swinging his right arm forcibly in the direction of Cunningham's upper body and head. While Cunningham may have been in a slightly lower position at the moment of impact than Fogarty hoped, he did not move in an unnatural or unexpected manner.
"Fogarty's technique of forcefully swinging his arm in the likely direction of his opponent's head and neck was, in those circumstances, careless. Fogarty's evidence was he intended to do no more than wrap Cunningham up in a tackle. He could have done so without the unreasonable forceful wing of the right arm.
"The impact was severe. The force of the blow was considerable and Cunningham was concussed and took no further part in the match. He will miss at least one further match. The examples we were shown differed from the present matter in the extent of force and/or the nature of the extended injury suffered.
"The three-match suspension is appropriate."
Fogarty will be required to sit out Adelaide's upcoming games against Collingwood, Essendon and Richmond as a result.
Aaron Murphy has been with Flashscore since 2018 and, as the founding editor of the Australian newsdesk, has reported on-site at several major events in Melbourne including the Australian Open, State of Origin, A-League, NBL and international cricket. You can read his pieces here and contact him on X or LinkedIn.
