Lachie Neale will play in the AFL grand final after an appeals panel overturned his one-match suspension for striking Fremantle’s Jack Ginnivan, replacing it with a 10,000 Australian dollar fine.
The decision followed one of the most contentious hearings in the competition’s recent history. While the reasoning used by the appeals tribunal has been questioned, the outcome means Neale will not miss Brisbane’s bid for the premiership.
The three-member panel, led by Richard Loveridge and including former players who are now lawyers, relied on provisions allowing for exceptional circumstances. It placed particular weight on Neale’s record of having avoided suspension across 320 games.
The panel concluded that the original tribunal had not given sufficient consideration to that record. Neale’s advocate, Adrian Anderson, had argued that the offence should not lead to a suspension, despite the incident being graded as intentional and involving medium force.
Lachie Neale grand final ban overturned after appeal
The original decision had been upheld by the AFL tribunal after the match review officer classified Neale’s contact with Ginnivan as a reportable offence. Both bodies were applying the league’s crackdown on punches to the body.
The case exposed the limited scope for discretion within the AFL’s grading system. Neale’s brief swinging punch was treated in the same framework as more serious conduct, leaving little room to distinguish between an offence warranting a fine and one that should keep a player out of a grand final.
The appeals panel effectively reconsidered the case from the beginning, reaching a different conclusion about the penalty. Its decision allowed Neale to play while preserving a financial sanction.
The ruling is likely to prompt comparisons with previous grand-final week cases involving prominent players. Andrew Dunkley had a three-match suspension for striking James Hird postponed before a grand final, while Barry Hall’s suspension for punching Matt Maguire was overturned after the incident was deemed to have occurred in play.
Aaron Hamill also had a two-match ban overturned after a 1999 preliminary final, while Richmond captain Trent Cotchin escaped punishment for a high bump on Dylan Shiel. By contrast, players including Jason McCartney and Anthony Rocca were not cleared when their offences were judged to have crossed a more serious threshold.
Neale’s clearance means Brisbane retain one of their most important players for the grand final. The decision has satisfied the practical question at the centre of the case: whether conduct of that level should prevent a player from taking part in the season’s decisive match.
