North Melbourne has accepted Brent Harvey's three-match ban for misconduct with the club unable to identify any legitimate grounds for appeal.
"We were obviously extremely disappointed with the severity of the suspension at the Tribunal last night, but acknowledge we received a fair hearing," Director of Football Geoff Walsh said.
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Harvey was imposed with a penalty of 341 demerit points, with the Tribunal highlighting two separate phases of an incident during the second quarter of Sunday's match.
Despite pleading guilty to the first charge of flipping the Bulldogs' Liam Picken to the ground, that action and a subsequent forearm to his opponent's throat will see the North veteran miss the remaining two home and away matches, as well as the first week of the finals.
"Immediately after the decision was announced and through until this morning, we have been exploring our avenues for an appeal.
"However, we have been unable to identify anything that could help reduce the penalty for Brent," Walsh said.
A previous six-game suspension in 2012 meant Harvey was burdened with a 40 per cent loading going into the hearing.
"If we could appeal the decision we would, but the reality is there are simply no grounds for it given the circumstances and the way the case played out,” Walsh added.
At the Tribunal, Harvey argued he had no other option but to make contact with Picken, who held him down as he attempted to stand up.
"He made contact with me and grabbed me with both hands," he said.
"I tried to get up and get some leverage to push up ... he was pulling me down with force," he added, likening it to a "tug of war".
"Not at one stage did I want to hurt him... or cause him pain."
The Bulldogs' medical report confirmed Picken wasn't injured during the incident.
North will now go into Saturday's clash against Adelaide without two of its most important players, with Daniel Wells also set to miss through suspension.
Wells accepted a one-match ban for combined striking and rough conduct charges.
