Woodville-West Torrens premiership ruckman Craig Parry has won a bid to overturn a lifetime ban by the SANFL.

The league deregistered Parry earlier this week after he accepted a two-game suspension for striking, taking his total number of weeks suspended to 18, beyond the league's limit.

Under rules adopted last year, any player who is suspended for more than 15 games throughout their career can no longer play in the competition.

The Eagles appealed the decision and the Football Commission Tribunal overturned Parry's ban at a hearing last night.

The tribunal ruled it was an exceptional case because Parry had already reached the limit before the rule was brought in.

Parry, who was awarded the Jack Oatey Medal in 2011 Grand Final, says he is relieved by the decision and looks forward to playing finals football in his last season in the competition.

"I didn't want to tarnish anyone's name. The club's obviously, their name's under scrutiny, you know, the SANFL and myself and it's certainly not the legacy I wanted to leave," he said.

"So again, happy with the decision and I'll serve my two weeks for what I did and get back to playing obviously the footy which is what I love to do."

Parry was the first player to be banned under the rule which was introduced in November.

The SANFL's general football manager, Chris Davies, says the decision to overturn Parry's deregistration will not set a precedent for other players.

"When the deregistration policy was taken on by the SANFL, Craig Parry was the only player who was at the level that saw him in the position that he was going to be directly affected and so this was treated as certainly a one-off instance," he said.

"We believe a 16-week penalty in this situation is fair. If any particular player gets up to this situation from here on in, the SANFL needs this particular rule in place to deal with players who re-offend."

Woodville-West Torrens football manager Trent Hentschel welcomed the decision.

"[We] were confident in the case we had, so just wrapped that Paz will be able to play out the season," he said.