Questions have emerged over perhaps the only lever Brisbane can pull in the bid to free Lachie Neale for the AFL grand final against Fremantle.
The dual Brownlow medallist’s hat-trick hopes went up in flames on Sunday when he was handed a one-match suspension for a gut punch that floored Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan behind play during Saturday night’s epic preliminary final.
The incident was graded intentional conduct, body contact and, crucially, medium impact as part of rules implemented this year to disincentivise off-the-ball hits.
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Several players have still fallen foul of the edict, which leaves the Lions with little wiggle room when they challenge Neale’s ban at the tribunal.
But Neale has never been suspended in his 320-game career, and Brisbane have already been tipped to use the same clause that helped Scott Pendlebury escape suspension for a bump this season.
Under AFL regulations, “a player with an exemplary record may argue that their good record constitutes exceptional and compelling circumstances”.
Brisbane will challenge Lachie Neale’s ban at the tribunal ahead of the grand final. Credit: Getty
Whether a cut-and-dry gut punch deserves that treatment, as opposed to a football act operating under ever-changing rules and interpretations, is up for debate.
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt expects Neale to be cleared because the AFL’s “subjective rules” can be “manipulated”.
“You want to see the strongest teams in the grand final, 100 per cent, but of the half a dozen players who had to serve a one-match suspension for similar incidents, should it matter whether you have or haven’t done it before?” Matt Shirvington asked on Channel 7’s Sunrise.
Riewoldt replied: “I agree with you, but this is what this is how the AFL operates and this is how we’ve seen them operate in the past.”
“Scott Pendlebury, as we know in March had his incident, and that was the argument — that they are compelling and exceptional circumstances because he’d been playing for so long,” he went on.
“You can make the same argument that missing a grand final is compelling and exceptional circumstances.
“So any time you have these subjective rules that the AFL does have, then there’s an opportunity for those to be manipulated.
“I think that’s Brisbane’s best chance of getting him off. But you’re right, the players that have served a week for those sort of incidents this year, they’d be filthy if Lachie gets off.”
Hawks pair James Sicily and Dylan Moore and Adelaide forward Riley Thilthorpe are among a raft of players who have been suspended for gut punches this season.
Neale’s possible get-out-of-jail-free exemplary record play is separate to the scrapped ‘good bloke’ clause, which allowed players to lean on character references at the tribunal.
Brisbane will hold an open training session on Tuesday before the hearing will likely take place later that night.
Neale had spoken of his excitement at reaching a grand final against his former club Fremantle, 13 years after he played in the Dockers’ loss to Hawthorn on the same stage.
Instead, his Lions career could now be over.
The 33-year-old is widely expected to join Collingwood as a free agent in the off-season.
Neale is no stranger to grand final week drama, after his calf injury was the major talking point ahead of the 2025 decider against Geelong.
The brilliant midfielder ultimately played as the substitute — under a system that has since been thrown out — and starred with 17 disposals and one goal to help the Lions secure back-to-back flags.
The dual Brownlow medallist wasn’t the only player under match review scrutiny after Saturday’s preliminary final.
Hawthorn defenders Sicily ($10,000) and Tom Barrass ($5000) were handed massive fines for misconduct after they had angry words with umpire Hayden Meyer immediately after the final siren.
It followed a controversial finish, in which a holding-the-ball free paid against Hawthorn’s Jarman Impey gifted Brisbane’s Hugh McCluggage the go-ahead goal in the dying stages.
The league determined the fixed financial sanction for abusive language towards an umpire was inadequate, and so charged Sicily and Barrass under the “other misconduct’‘ provision.
Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe was cleared over his first-quarter contact with Neale in a collision that involved opponents pushing the two players into each other.
— with AAP
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