Western Bulldogs skipper Katie Brennan will miss the AFLW grand final against Brisbane after deciding not to seek a Federal Court intervention.
The Bulldogs spent several hours considering their options after Brennan's bid to overturn a two-game ban was dismissed by the AFL appeals board on Thursday.
Brennan remained insistent her tackle on Melbourne's Harriet Cordner last weekend was reasonable and did not warrant a suspension.
Because it was Brennan's second classifiable offence for the season, the penalty increased from a reprimand to a ban, which triggered the tribunal challenge.
In the men's competition, the two charges would only attract a fine.
Brennan will instead launch a separate challenge against the AFL to the Australian Human Rights Commission on gender discrimination grounds.
"I believe my tackle on Harriet Cordner was reasonable and I strongly disagree with the guilty finding," Brennan said in a statement on Friday.
"It is even more troubling to know that if I was a man playing in the AFL and was reported for the identical tackle, I would not have been suspended and I would be playing in a grand final tomorrow.
"The fight for gender equality is as every bit as important to me as the grand final and the decisions I have made reflect both of those priorities."
Brennan's and the Bulldogs will ask the Human Rights Commission to amend the differences between the AFLW and AFL regulations to ensure that in future, female players would not be more likely to be suspended than men for identical incidents.
Brennan will support her teammates from the sidelines at Ikon Park on Saturday.
"We are immensely proud of Katie and stand by her. Our team will be doing its best to repay her faith in them tomorrow," Bulldogs chief Ameet Bains said.
"We share Katie's view that her suspension was wrong and we will fully support her challenging the AFL Rules on the basis of gender discrimination."
Bulldogs coach Paul Groves is adamant they will be ready for the grand final, noting Brennan has missed eight of their 14 games over two seasons through injury.
Lions coach Craig Starcevich said the furore surrounding Brennan and her suspension was a function of the league's rocketing growth.
"Everything with our competition is in flux," he said.
"We're talking about changing rules every single day.
"So we're two years in, 16 games in.
"It's definitely something we're looking at - we're all custodians of this competition, we all want it to function as best it can."
