Marlion Pickett will not run out onto the MCG in the Tigers' Indigenous jumper he designed with his partner after failing to overturn an AFL suspension at the Tribunal.

Pickett was offered a one-match ban for a high bump on Hawthorn livewire Dylan Moore during Saturday's round nine encounter.

But the charge was upheld on Tuesday night with the Tigers failing to have Pickett's contact downgraded from medium to low impact.

He will be forced to sit out the Dreamtime game, taking place at the MCG for the first time since 2019 after COVID-19 forced it to be held in Darwin and Perth during the last two seasons.

Pickett and his partner Jessica Nannup designed the Tigers' Indigenous jumper for this year's Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

The 30-year-old argued he was only going for the ball when he decided to lay a shepherd on Moore so teammate Liam Baker could collect possession.

Pickett told the Tribunal it was a safe bump that was delivered with a level of force of "three out of 10".

"I dropped my level to make it safe because there was a height difference between me (and Moore)," Pickett said.

The AFL pointed to the Tribunal guidelines, which cite any high bump that has the potential to cause injury will usually be graded as ‘medium’ impact.

The AFL's legal counsel Nick Pane said the incident could never be deemed to be low impact.

"It was more good luck than good technique Moore wasn’t injured," Pane told the Tribunal.

After deliberating for 20 minutes, the jury upheld the charge.