Essendon star Dylan Shiel has been banned for one match in a landmark ruling by the AFL tribunal.

The tribunal spent close to two hours deliberating before finding Shiel guilty of rough conduct for an unusual incident that saw his teammate Luamon Lual injured in last week’s loss to Geelong.

During the second term of Friday night’s clash, Shiel pushed Cats defender Mark O’Connor into a marking contest just as Lual was courageously running back with the flight.

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O’Connor cannoned into Lual, which caused the 20-year-old to flip upside down and land awkwardly on his neck.

Lual came from the field and underwent assessment before he was ultimately cleared to resume playing.

The youngster was eventually subbed out during the last quarter.

While players have previously been suspended for pushing opponents into marking contests, this one was a unique incident given the potential injury was to a teammate.

The match review officer charged Shiel with rough conduct, but made the rare call to send Shiel straight to the tribunal with the recommendation of a one-match ban.

Shiel argued he was just trying to get O’Connor under the ball in a one-on-one marking contest or at worst protect the drop zone of an incoming ball.

“After I contested and got the ground ball, I was quite shocked to see another teammate on the ground,” Shiel said.

“I didn’t know how he got there.”

The AFL said Shiel was not contesting the mark and instead chose to forcefully push his opponent towards the fall of the ball and in the path of oncoming players.

Essendon then argued five key reasons why the incident shouldn’t be reportable, saying other players had cleared out the space and Shiel’s eyes were on the ball until after the push..

They also said Shiel had been trained to protect the drop zone, O’Connor was not pushed into the contest (instead down the wing) and there was no high contact to the Geelong player.

The hearing lasted around an hour, but deliberations went for nearly double that before they eventually settled on the one-match ban.

Tribunal chair Renee Enbom said the force of Shiel’s push on O’Connor was “unreasonable”.

“It was not conduct that a reasonable player would consider prudent,” she said.

“Shiel breached his duty of care.”

Essendon coach Brad Scott, previously the head of AFL football operations, earlier Tuesday said the Bombers had copped a “triple whammy” of punishment: a free kick against, Lual’s injury and a tribunal case.

“We have been penalised three times without the opposition actually being the victim, as far as I can see,” he told reporters before the hearing.

- With AAP