Vision showed Thomas grabbing Selwood's jumper after the Cats' skipper grabbed a fistful of Thomas's jumper while the Port Adelaide forward lay on the ground.
Selwood stumbled forward as a result however he braced himself with both feet to ensure he did not fall on Thomas and said he had no intention of striking Thomas.
"It wasn't my intention to hit him. My intention was to tell him what I thought about [the bump on my teammate]," Selwood said.
His counsel Ben Ihle argued Selwood had no intention to strike Thomas while the AFL's legal counsel argued he took the opportunity to strike Thomas with his left hand when Thomas pulled him towards him.
Ihle said Selwood's hand moved down as a result of him being unbalanced when Thomas grabbed his jumper and the captain made sure he did not fall on Thomas and give away a free kick.
Vision also showed Thomas sitting on the interchange bench immediately after the incident without any sign of being struck.
Meanwhile Thomas's attempt to reboot his AFL career with Port Adelaide has hit a roadblock after he was suspended for three games for the bump he laid on Geelong midfielder Scott Selwood.
The decision means he will effectively miss four matches as he was suspended for one week when he tangled with Joel Selwood after the incident.
The 30-year-old veteran who is on a one year rookie contract was playing his first game with his new club after 205 games with North Melbourne when he flattened Selwood in a bump that left the Geelong on-baller concussed.
Thomas's career now sits on the precipice as he is unlikely to be available for selection for the next six rounds with Port Adelaide suggesting he will need at least two weeks before being considered again for senior selection.
Although Thomas pleaded guilty to the charge of rough conduct his legal counsel Ben Krupka argued Thomas's action, which was graded as severe and high, only just fitted into those categories and leniency should be given for not contesting the charge.
Krupka apologised on Thomas's behalf to Selwood for the act and that he "did not mean the outcome that occurred".
He argued that Thomas went as low as he possibly could and merely got it wrong when he made contact with Selwood's head.
In presenting the AFL's case legal counsel Nick Pane said the tribunal should take into account the five-week suspension Thomas received in 2017 when he knocked out Melbourne's Corey Maynard when playing for Werribee.
He recommended a penalty of four weeks in addition to the one week penalty he received for striking Joel Selwood in the aftermath however Thomas's counsel said the appropriate penalty was three weeks as Thomas had gone as low as possible and the act was in play.
He showed an incident where the Giants' Jeremy Cameron bumped Brisbane's Rhys Mathieson in 2016 and received four weeks even though Mathieson broke his jaw in the incident.
The jury of Richard Loveridge, Jason Johnson and Shane Wakelin took five minutes to deliver the three match suspension.
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Peter Ryan joined The Age in 2017 having covered AFL as a senior reporter with AFL Media.
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