Tom Lynch will now give evidence.
Lynch: I contested the mark, felt like Butts was holding onto me ... we won the ball and I wanted to get forward and get Butts off me as quickly as I could.
Lynch: I got it wrong and it was the wrong thing to do.
Q: Were you trying to get him high?
Lynch: No, absolutely not, but I clearly got him high.
Q: Where were you trying to make contact?
Lynch: To his upper back.
Lynch says it was "absolutely not" a clenched fist he struck Butts with. He demonstrates repeatedly to the Tribunal how his hand was positioned at the time of impact.
Lynch notes he has a permanently fused joint on the middle finger on his right hand. He shows the Tribunal how it doesn't close with the rest of his fingers and perhaps inadvertedly gives the Tribunal the middle finger.
Lynch says once the game had finished he immediately walked over to Butts, shook his hand and apologised and told him that he was soundly beaten by Butts.
Lynch says he was swiping rather than punching. If Lynch had watched Dora the Explorer growing up, he would be aware swiping is frowned upon.
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