Breaking news:Tribunal’s decision to dismiss western bulldogs midfielder.

The AFL has considered appealing the Tribunal’s ruling that Britney Gutknecht’s lawsuit should be dismissed.

The Western Bulldogs midfielder Britney Gutknecht’s rough conduct allegation was dropped on Tuesday night, and the AFL decided not to appeal the judgement.

After a spectacular tackle on Sydney’s Paige Sheppard, Gutknecht was immediately taken to the Tribunal, where she might have been banned for more than three matches according to the Match Review Officer’s evaluation.

Sheppard suffered a concussion in the incident after Gutknecht drove a drill into the Whitten Oval turf, but the Dogs midfielder is free to play this week after the Tribunal rejected the complaint.

In a statement on Wednesday, the AFL said it “was not the outcome sought by the AFL”, however ruled out appealing the decision.

“After careful consideration and review of the Tribunal’s decision and reasons following last night’s hearing into the incident involving Western Bulldogs’ Britney Gutknecht’s tackle on Sydney’s Paige Sheppard, the AFL has decided not to appeal the Tribunal’s decision,” the statement read.

“Although the Tribunal’s decision was not the outcome sought by the AFL in issuing its match review findings, the AFL respects the reasoning of the Tribunal in arriving at its decision.

“However, notwithstanding this decision, the AFL acknowledges that the tackle in question resulted in Sheppard suffering a concussion, and the AFL re-iterates that the health and safety of players is the AFL’s priority.

As such, the event will be closely scrutinised at the conclusion of the season, along with other occurrences that did not lead to sanctions this year. The AFL will review additional rule modifications at the end of the AFLW season in an effort to discourage needless, violent head-to-head contact and lower the number of concussions in our sport.”

The Bulldogs are anchored to the bottom of the ladder and remain winless after eight rounds.

They face West Coast on Saturday, before finishing their season with a clash against North Melbourne.