Butters smashed Joel Freijah with a late, high tackle in the last quarter of Friday night\u2019s match.<\/p>\n
The ball was long gone and Butters only had his eyes on his opponent, though it is not clear if he made contact with his head.<\/p>\n
The AFL cleared him of any wrongdoing so he is still in contention to win the 2026 Brownlow Medal.<\/p>\n
The Match Review Officer ruled that Butters made \u201cpredominately body contact with Freijah\u201d and has therefore not taken any action against the Port star.<\/p>\n
\u201dBased on all available evidence, it was the view of the MRO that any high contact to Freijah was negligible and as a result, Butters\u2019 actions did not constitute a reportable offence,\u201d the MRO said in a statement.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It comes after Butters\u2019 actions sparked fury on the pitch as several Dogs stars rushed him as he knelt on the ground.<\/p>\n
Players began pushing and shoving his head, clearly fuming with the tackle.<\/p>\n
It is the last thing Butters needs after narrowly avoiding sanction for allegedly questioning Foot\u2019s integrity<\/a>.<\/p>\n Foot claims Butters said \u201cHow much are they paying you?\u201d, which he took as a shot at his professionalism, while Butters insists he only questioned the decision by saying words to the effect of \u201csurely that\u2019s not a free kick\u201d.<\/p>\n Butters was initially found guilty but won his appeal after successfully arguing there was an error of law when jury member Jason Johnson left the deliberations for around 80 seconds and finished the Tribunal hearing in his car before attending a real estate inspection.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was clearly an error of law that had a material impact on the decision of the Tribunal,\u201d Appeal Board chair Will Houghton found.<\/p>\n