PORT Adelaide star Robbie Gray is on his last chance with the Match Review Panel as he prepares to walk a tightrope and remain eligible for the Brownlow Medal this season.
Gray on Tuesday accepted a $1500 fine for rough conduct, after putting down Geelong defender Tom Ruggles behind play with an intentional hit to the body.
The offence came just six days after a similar offence on Greater Western Sydney captain Callan Ward – an intentional strike to the body – earned him a $1000 fine.
Gray remains among the top 10 chances to win this year's Brownlow Medal with bookmakers, but he will be ruled ineligible if he commits another low-level offence.
Under changes to the Match Review Panel ahead of the 2015 season, carry-over points were eliminated and low-level offences, such as a low impact strike to the body, became punishable with a fine.
However, to deter players from repeatedly committing such offences and paying with their wallets, a third offence carries both a $2500 fine and a one-match suspension.
Fremantle star and eventual Brownlow medallist Nat Fyfe famously walked a tightrope for the final two months of last season after committing two low-level offences inside the first 15 rounds.
Gray has enjoyed a magnificent past two seasons, polling 27 Brownlow Medal votes, winning Port's past two club champion awards, earning All-Australian selection twice and being named the AFL Coaches Association player of the year in 2014.
He has never been suspended and, before his two most recent transgressions, had only been found guilty of tripping in 2011.
The 28-year-old, who has appeared frustrated on-field in the past weeks, has averaged 25 possessions and a career-high 5.4 inside 50s, spending significant periods of games forward.
He is currently seventh-favourite with bookmakers to win the Brownlow.
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