Lachie Neale has bought Jack Ginnivan a limited-edition bottle of pinot noir after the Collingwood player helped him avoid missing Brisbane’s grand final victory following a controversial AFL tribunal hearing.
Neale was suspended by the match review officer for striking Ginnivan in the preliminary final. The ban was upheld by the tribunal after a marathon hearing before Brisbane appealed, with the suspension subsequently downgraded.
Asked on the Footy And Friends podcast what present he had bought Ginnivan “for getting you off (and into) the granny”, Neale confirmed that he had purchased a bottle of Will Ashcroft’s Mr September pinot noir.
The wine is a limited release valued at $45 a bottle, although it was sold only in packs of six or 12 and is now sold out.
Ginnivan, who was appearing on the podcast, confirmed he had received the gift but joked: “Yeah, he got me a pinot noir …. could have gone a bit higher than that.”
Neale advised him to wait before opening it, saying: “It’s fresh out of the barrel so you have to let it sit for a bit but it should be beautiful in about six months.”
During the tribunal hearing, Neale said Ginnivan had described the contact as “more of a body check” rather than a swinging arm. He also told the panel that he believed Ginnivan had taken “a bit of a dive” during the incident.
Ginnivan later said Neale had hit him “behind the play” with a swinging arm, but added that he did not want to see the midfielder miss a grand final over the incident.
“You never really want to see someone miss a grand final for something something like that,” Ginnivan said on the Ball Magnets podcast. “I was glad to see him win his third flag.”
