Winter had been facing a three-week penalty after he was reported for an alleged dangerous tackle on Coleambally's James Buchanan in the last quarter of the Saints' big win against the Blues last Saturday.

After a 90-minute hearing followed by a 30-minute deliberation, the independent AFL Riverina tribunal found Winter guilty, finding his conduct careless but downgrading the impact to medium (rather than high) and found contact was to the body (not high).

The suspension means the midfielder is also ineligible to coach in any capacity at Langtry Oval on Saturday.

Reporting umpire Dallas McKelvie said the incident started out as a 'textbook' tackle that went from legal to illegal in a split second lapse in the tackler's duty of care just before the players went to the ground and Buchanan hit his head.

He said the report was made primarily because the player's head hit the ground with force.

North Wagga insisted it was a legal tackle and rejected any slinging action. Winter said Buchanan had momentum when he ran into a stationary Winter and the two players went to ground mainly with the force of the attacking player.

Buchanan said his arms had been pinned in the tackle. He didn't return to the ground in the remaining minutes of the fourth quarter due to headaches and a sore shoulder.

Buchanan told the hearing via phone he didn't need to see a doctor. He's been named to play for the Blues against Temora this weekend.

The incident sparked a melee which umpires' advocate Tim Beard said indicated Coleambally players' reaction to the tackle but North Wagga witnesses said it had been a physical and at times fiery encounter anyway. Teammates Josh Thompson and Ben Alexander in their witness evidence insisted the Saints coach's tackle was no different to many others during the game.

Winter will be free to play and coach against Barellan and the Northern Jets after this week but misses a massive game at Marrar on Saturday.

The coach declined to comment after the hearing but assistant coach Ben Alexander said it's disappointing to lose him.

"It's a bit of a blow but we'll have to carry on without him," Alexander said.

"It's disappointing in a way but what's done is done. It was downgraded from three so we've got to take some positive out of that.

"Our preparation was the same this week, whether he's there or not... so it's business as usual, there's not much we can do about it.

"It's a massive game in respect of our season. Obviously if we lose, we lose a bit of touch with the top two so we need to win this game to solidify that top three spot."

North Wagga are third on the ladder, one win behind East Wagga-Kooringal and two wins behind the table-topping Bombers. They're only a game clear of The Rock-Yerong Creek.

Winter has already missed two games with a knee injury this season. North Wagga beat both Charles Sturt University and TRYC without the leader.

"As big as he is for our team, we can play without him," Alexander said.

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