Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says the decision not to suspend Nat Fyfe for tripping is a fair result for the game.

Under the old points system of the AFL’s Match Review Panel, Fyfe would have been suspended for the incident in which he threw out his legs and tripped Bulldogs midfielder Koby Stevens.

But the off-season revamp gave the MRP the flexibility to penalise Fyfe with a fine instead, meaning the 23-year-old remains eligible to win this year’s Brownlow medal.

“It’s a good result. An accurate result. A fair result,” Lyon said.

“It’s the only result that could have happened in my view.”

Fyfe remains the hot favourite to win this year’s Brownlow, and he’ll be aiming to produce another best on ground performance in Saturday night’s clash with North Melbourne in Perth.

The 190cm Docker tallied 30 possessions and three goals in the win over the Bulldogs.

But Fremantle had to fight hard for their seventh straight win after the Bulldogs levelled the scores in the final quarter.

“I thought it was a really strong four-quarter performance bar some sloppiness behind the ball and some dropped marks,” Lyon told Perth radio station 6PR.

“Those issues of sloppiness behind the ball are pretty easy to fix.”

Veteran defender Luke McPharlin is expected to return against the Kangaroos after missing the past two matches because of calf soreness.

North Melbourne (4-3) remain outside of the top eight despite their win over Essendon, and Lyon is expecting a fierce contest.

“We know they’re a top-four team from last year, so we won’t be taking them lightly,” Lyon said.