KEY FORWARD Jacob van Rooyen will be free to play this weekend after having his suspension for Striking overturned at the AFL Appeals Board on Thursday night.

The decision comes after the club contested the Match Review Officer’s grading of Careless Conduct, High Contact, High Impact, earlier this week.

The club argued that van Rooyen’s sole intention was to contest the ball, at no stage did he intend to cause harm to Gold Coast Suns player Charlie Ballard and that the incident was merely a football accident.

The collision between van Rooyen and Ballard occurred in the final quarter of Melbourne’s Round 8 match at Heritage Bank Stadium. Having reached out to the Suns following the incident, the club confirmed Ballard had recovered well and is expected to play this weekend.

As a result of the decision, van Rooyen will take to the field against Hawthorn on Saturday afternoon.