ELOISE Jones will miss Adelaide's must-win match against Melbourne on Sunday after having her one-match ban for rough conduct upheld at Wednesday's Tribunal hearing.

Jones was charged for her incident with North Melbourne's Ruby Tripodi, graded as careless conduct, medium impact and high contact and was unable to have it overturned.

Adelaide argued Jones did not bump the Kangaroo and that she was genuinely contesting the footy, saying that she in fact protected Tripodi by turning her body as contact loomed.

The Tribunal not only disagreed with this, but also that the contact should be downgraded from medium to low.

Following almost 90 minutes of submissions and 60 minutes of deliberation, tribunal chair Renee Enbom delivered the bad news for Jones, saying it was an unreasonable way to contest the ball.

"Miss Jones chose to bump the opponent to clear the way for her to gather the ball," Enbom said.

"In doing so she made high contact to her opponent. High contact was far from incidental or glancing. The bump involved significant force, much of which was high. 

"The medical evidence records jaw pain.

"It was not reasonable for Miss Jones to contest the ball by bumping her opponent high using the force she did."

Jones gave extensive evidence, saying she had eyes only for the ball and turned her body to protect both herself and Tripodi.

Enbom said Jones had other options.

"She could have bumped to the body only. She could have run directly to the ball in an effort to gather the ball first and before her opponent," Enbom said.

"The impact has correctly been classified as medium. There was significant potential for injury given the force used in executing the bump. 

"The opponent was at risk of a broken jaw or a head injury."

Adelaide is hoping West Coast can defeat Hawthorn on Saturday, which would leave the door open for it to sneak into the top eight with a win over the Demons the following day.