Essendon utility Courtenay Dempsey has been suspended for four matches by the AFL tribunal for his dangerous tackle on Richmond star Brett Deledio.

Dempsey was charged with rough conduct over the tackle and referred directly to the tribunal by the AFL match review panel, who assessed the incident as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact.

Former AFL general manager of football Adrian Anderson, representing Dempsey, entered a plea of guilty but argued that the impact was high and not severe.

However, he failed to convince tribunal jury members Shane Wakelin, Richard Loveridge and Paul Williams, who delivered their finding of a four-match ban after 15 minutes of deliberation.