Lions defender Joel Patfull is free to play against the Crows this Sunday afternoon after being cleared of a rough conduct charge at the AFL Tribunal.

Patfull was booked by the Match Review Panel on Monday with a Level Three engaging in rough conduct offence against West Coast’s Brett Jones.

The incident drew 325 demerit points and Patfull faced a three-match sanction, but the 25 year-old was determined to clear his name and play out the rest of the season.

Patfull told the Tribunal that he thought the contact was unavoidable.

“I had my eyes for the ball the whole way," Patfull said. "At the last split-second I attempted to lower my speed and brace myself and that’s when the contact was made."

But it wasn’t all good news for the Lions at the AFL Tribunal.

Lions skipper Jonathan Brown was found guilty of tripping West Coast midfielder Scott Selwood but will still be free to play his 200th AFL match against Adelaide this Sunday afternoon at the Gabba.

Brown was charged with a Level One tripping offence during the third quarter of Last Saturday night’s match but chose to contest the verdict by claiming that he was simply changing direction while attempting to tackle Selwood.

Rather than accepting an early guilty plea and a subsequent reprimand of just 45 demerit points, he will now receive 80 demerit points towards his future record.

While the penalty doesn’t affect Brown’s availability to play this weekend, it means that he loses his five-year good behaviour record at the AFL Tribunal.

A clean record at the Tribunal entitles a player to a 25% discount with regard to penalties.