3 minute read

Brisbane are appealing midfielder Belle Dawes' one-match ban that currently rules the two-time AFLW premiership player out of the Lions' home preliminary final.

Brisbane will head to the AFLW Tribunal to challenge Belle Dawes' one-match ban in a bid to free the midfielder for their home preliminary final.

Two-time premiership player Dawes was slapped with the suspension after charging front-on into Hawthorn's Ainslie Kemp in the second quarter of their qualifying final win last Sunday.

Kemp underwent an assessment for concussion but was cleared, with Dawes' act graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact.

Brisbane coach Craig Starcevich said he didn't get a good look at the incident, while his Hawks counterpart Daniel Webster backed Dawes.

"It was hard to see with the camera angle, but it didn't look like much in it," Webster said after the match.

"Belle Dawes is a fair player and so I just thought she was going for the footy. She left the ground, but it just didn't look like much to me."

Should Brisbane's appeal fail, Dawes will miss a game for the first time since her 2020 AFLW debut.

The Lions won the final at Ikon Park by six points and will host a preliminary final against either Adelaide or Fremantle next week.

Hawthorn will fight to keep their finals campaign alive when they host Port Adelaide on Saturday.

Dawes was the only player in the first week of finals to be suspended, with Hawks midfielder Emily Bates and North Melbourne's Victoria Wall both fined for rough conduct.