JAI NEWCOMBE is free to play in Hawthorn's Opening Round clash against Greater Western Sydney after successfully getting his one-match ban for rough conduct downgraded.

The star Hawks midfielder escaped with a fine after fronting the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday for a dangerous tackle on Western Bulldogs opponent Ed Richards.

OPENING ROUND Get your seats to Giants v Hawks

Richards had one arm pinned by Newcombe in the third quarter, but did not suffer an injury and played the rest of last Friday night's practice match.

The incident was initially graded careless conduct, medium impact and high contact by the Match Review Officer.

After just 25 minutes of deliberating, the Tribunal upheld the charge of rough conduct but conceded the impact was low.

"While Richards' head clearly hits the ground and bounces slightly, there is no injury and absolutely no expression of pain," Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC said.

"He simply stood up, took his kick, and played on. 

"The majority of the force goes through Richards' hip, and then shoulder, before his head hits the ground, leading us to conclude that the potential for injury was not such as to warrant a medium impact grading."

Newcombe fronted the Tribunal but was not called to give evidence, with Hawthorn arguing the midfielder tried to control his opponent's descent backwards with his hand on Richards' left hip.

The club also argued Richards had "ample opportunity" to protect himself, saying a reasonable player would've expected a rival to let go of the ball, even if it would have given away a free kick.

But the Tribunal agreed with the AFL it was not reasonable to expect a player to drop the ball in order to protect themselves.

It is a massive sigh of relief for Hawthorn ahead of Saturday's elimination final rematch against GWS at Engie Stadium.

The Hawks are already without star ball-winner Will Day (shoulder), Cam Mackenzie (concussion) and free agent James Worpel, who defected to Geelong in the off-season.