North Melbourne’s Jackson Archer has learnt his fate at the AFL Tribunal after appealing a three-match ban for his collision with Bulldog Luke Cleary on Saturday.

Despite the hearing lasting more than two hours, just 39 minutes of deliberation were needed as the ban was upheld.

The Tribunal found the incident was “unreasonable rough conduct” and not a contested ball situation, meaning Archer should have avoided Cleary.

“Archer approached the contest at excessive speed, giving himself no reasonable opportunity to avoid harmful contact with Cleary in the circumstances that foreseeably arose,” the findings read.

Cleary was left unconscious after he and Archer collided during the Western Bulldog’s season-opening victory over North Melbourne at Marvel Stadium.

The incident played out like a car crash, with both players doing their utmost to win the footy on the broadcast wing.

As Archer prepared to attack the loose ball, Cleary dropped to ground, using his momentum to collect and protect the ball to ensure he impacted the contest with another North player on his hammer.

However, it came too late for Archer to avoid, the 22-year-old crashing into Cleary, his right knee collecting the defender in the head at speed.

In a scary few minutes, medical staff assisted the pair, with Cleary requiring a stretcher to get off the ground.

Tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson acknowledged rules encouraged players to keep their feet but this didn’t always happen and “players need to be aware”, saying Archer had “slowed too little and too late”.

North can still take the case to the AFL appeals board.

Archer said he was initially competing for the ball, then looked to press.

“I expected him to pick up the ball and stay on his feet,” he said, noting players were trained not to go to ground.

Archer said once Cleary’s knee hit the ground, he had slowed down and braced for impact.

“My bum’s down, trying to slow down as much (as possible), hit the brakes,” he said.

Archer reached out to Cleary the following day and the Bulldogs defender had told him the incident wasn’t his fault.

AFL lawyer Andrew Woods said Archer hadn’t taken “reasonable care” to avoid the collision and had Cleary stayed on his feet and bent down to get the ball, the outcome could have been worse.

North used graphs showing Archer’s “active deceleration” prior to impact and lawyer Justin Graham noted he showed “no indication of ever turning to bump” or “leaving the ground”.

Graham said Cleary also appeared to receive contact in his back/shoulder from Jacob Konstanty, who was behind him.

Both Luke Beveridge and Alastair Clarkson labelled the horrifying collision an accident post-game, but the MRO’s Michael Christian handed out a three-week ban to Archer for the incident.

Richmond are challenging Tom Lynch’s one-match suspension for rough conduct on Carlton’s Tom De Koning.

Then, Hawthorn will challenge defender Jack Scrimshaw’s three-match ban for a high hit on Essendon’s Jordan Ridley.

Concussions and how to protect players from them have been contentious issues in recent seasons, and the suspension has divided opinion again as North Melbourne challenged the ruling.

Former St Kilda forward Nick Riewoldt felt the ruling was harsh, given there was not much Archer could have done to avoid Cleary.

“Jackson Archer comes in fast, but as he approaches the contest, his stride shortens; he doesn’t brace (for contact), he doesn’t jump, he doesn’t slide, he doesn’t protect himself – he is wide open. Luke Cleary falls forward with an opposition player behind him and collects his head onto Jackson Archer’s knee,” he told Triple M.

“I’m just really fearful for the game itself if this guy gets three weeks for this accident. You can’t legislate accidents out of the game. We don’t want concussions – that point has been made – that’s why players that are now bracing and protecting themselves are getting suspended. Jackson Archer is lucky not to have a broken leg; it’s a violent collision. I would be sad if he doesn’t get off this.”

Bulldogs’ great Bob Murphy said a suspension was inevitable, with Cleary receiving a nasty concussion despite Archer not having any malice.

“There’s definitely no malice, and it’s one of those ones where you don’t want to see players miss footy for those sorts of things, but it may end up that way,” he said on Monday.

Melbourne are yet to decide whether they will accept or challenge Aidan Johnson’s one-match suspension for rough conduct on Giants forward Callum Brown.

Sydney have accepted Justin McInerney’s three-match ban for the bump that concussed Brisbane’s Brandon Starcevich.