Adelaide veteran Richard Douglas will miss Thursday night's Grand Final rematch against Richmond after the AFL Tribunal upheld his one-game ban for rough conduct against Bomber Zach Merrett.

The Crows' unsuccessful appeal will cost them a $10,000 penalty.

After the hearing, Douglas gave a brief statement and made no suggestion he would appeal the Tribunal's decision.

"Obviously (I'm) really disappointed with the decision tonight. I thought we put together a really strong case, (but) we accept the decision and move on," Douglas said.

Tribunal jury members Stewart Loewe, David Neitz and Jason Johnson deliberated for 24 minutes before delivering their verdict, having heard evidence from a biomechanics expert who argued that still-frame photos of Douglas' bump showed he was "unlikely" to have made contact with Merrett's head.

The expert, Associate Professor Paul Grimshaw of Adelaide University, testified on behalf of Douglas that when the Crow bumped Merrett his right arm made contact with the Bomber's left shoulder and arm. 

Grimshaw acknowledged Merrett's head had subsequently moved, but said this had been caused by contact from the Bomber's own left shoulder and arm.

Douglas had earlier given evidence that he had initially made contact with Merrett's tricep and then his underarm in the first quarter of last Friday night's clash at Etihad Stadium. The Crows midfielder felt his bump had been legal.

"It felt flush, it felt good," he said.

In the Essendon medical report tendered to the Tribunal, Dr Bruce Reid said Merrett had been treated on the ground for concussion/loss of consciousness following Douglas' first-quarter bump, while he would receive ongoing treatment in the form of clinical evaluation over the next week.

In the report, Dr Reid wrote "TBA" to answer both the question of how much training Merrett would miss and if he would be sidelined from any matches.

Merrett took no further part in last Friday night's game after being bumped.

Jeff Gleeson QC appeared on behalf of the AFL and relied largely on the vision of Douglas' bump in arguing the Crows' one-match suspension should stand.

Gleeson said it was "quite obvious" from the video footage that Douglas' shoulder hit Merrett's head.