Close fronted the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night to contest the rough conduct charge for his pin-the-arms tackle that resulted in Adelaide's Jordan Dawson striking his head on the turf.
Dawson wasn't concussed in the incident.
Andrew Woods, acting for the AFL, showed vision of Close pinning both of Dawson's arms for the entire tackle.
Close's lawyer Ben Ihle argued that it was Dawson's bid to break the tackle that forced both players to topple forward.
With Dawson weighing 91kg and Close 77kg, Ihle said it was too difficult for Close to stop them tumbling forward once the tackle was made.
He also argued that if the tackle was deemed a dangerous act, it should be classified as low impact instead of medium.
"He (Dawson) put the ball under his right hand, because he is going to burst through this tackle," Ihle said.
"That could almost be a Teddy Whitten-type shot, with the ball tucked under his arm.
"Dawson is the one that is driving these two forward, and Mr Close is just trying to hold him up under these circumstances.
"But the bigger, heavier Dawson is driving this in a particular direction.
"He tries to burst this tackle, but he's not successful. And because he's not successful, he loses his feet and starts to fall to the ground
"Mr Close is being pulled down by the bigger, heavier player."
The jury, led by tribunal chairman Jeff Gleeson, upheld the original charge.
"We accept that players tackle by grabbing an arm," Gleeson said.
"But if the tackler realises or should realise that the tackled player is coming to ground with momentum - and does not release the tackled player's arm that he might have used to protect himself - he is likely to have breached his duty of care to the player."
Melbourne young gun Jacob van Rooyen (two-match suspension) and Carlton's Nic Newman (one match) will challenge their bans for striking.
Van Rooyen's attempted spoil in a marking contest led to Gold Coast's Charlie Ballard being taken off the field on a stretcher at Heritage Bank Stadium on Saturday night.
The 20-year-old's action was considered careless conduct, high contact and high impact.
Ballard was hurt but not concussed in the final-quarter incident and is expected to play against West Coast on Friday.
Newman received a one-match ban for striking after he made contact to Lachie Neale's chin with his elbow during the Blues' loss to Brisbane at Marvel Stadium on Friday night.
Junior Rioli faces a lengthy suspension after being sent directly to the AFL Tribunal for striking Essendon's Jordan Ridley.
His case will be heard on Wednesday evening.
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