{"id":901549,"date":"2026-09-22T17:56:23","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T17:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901549\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T17:56:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T17:56:23","slug":"lachie-neale-out-of-grand-final-in-sensational-tribunal-ruling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901549\/","title":{"rendered":"Lachie Neale out of grand final in sensational tribunal ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lachie Neale is sensationally out of the grand final after the AFL tribunal upheld his one-match ban for striking<\/a> and gave the veteran Lion a stinging rebuke for the off-the-ball incident.<\/p>\n

Not even Neale\u2019s exemplary record of avoiding suspension in 320 AFL matches for Brisbane and former club Fremantle saved him from losing his shot at the Lions\u2019 hat-trick of premierships.<\/p>\n

\"LachieLachie Neale copped an initial one-game ban for the gut punch. The suspension was upheld.Fox Footy, Getty<\/p>\n

The tribunal was highly critical of Neale, who they accused of giving \u201cinconsistent\u201d evidence about his clash with Hawthorn\u2019s Jack Ginnivan. Brisbane desperately tried to have the impact downgraded from medium to low, allowing Neale to be fined instead and to be able to face Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is relevant that this strike occurred nowhere near the ball, was not affected in or around the play, and because Ginnivan did not see Neale coming from behind or the side until the very last moment, he had no expectation of being struck until it was too late to meaningfully defend himself,\u201d said tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson, KC.<\/p>\n

In a compelling case that tested the AFL\u2019s crackdown on \u201cgut punches\u201d and whether a player such as Neale should be granted leniency after 15 AFL seasons without a suspension, the 33-year-old copped the full wrath of the tribunal.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeale jogged towards Ginnivan and formed the immediate intention to swing his arm forcefully at Ginnivan, and that is what he did,\u201d Gleeson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have listened carefully to Neale\u2019s evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we find that it was inconsistent in key respects with what we saw on the video, and to that extent, we do not accept it.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Lachie<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no doubt in our minds that this should be graded as medium impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Ginnivan was not injured and did not appear to suffer any significant pain or discomfort, the blow was forceful and knocked him off his feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe immediately doubled over in a manner more consistent with a more-than-negligible blow having landed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brisbane had tried to argue that Neale\u2019s strike on Ginnivan wasn\u2019t a \u201cclassic punch in the guts\u201d. Neale relied heavily on his argument that his conduct constituted a \u201cbody check\u201d instead of a strike on Ginnivan.<\/p>\n

While the Lions prepared an argument that it was a case of low impact instead of medium, they were equally prepared to rely on Neale\u2019s good record to constitute \u201cthe exemplary and compelling circumstances\u201d allowing him to have his one-match ban waived.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s relevant there\u2019s a grand final on the line,\u201d said Neale\u2019s advocate, Adrian Anderson.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is potentially the most important match of Lachie Neale\u2019s career. It could be a defining moment in the career if he\u2019s to miss a historic opportunity to play in a three-peat grand final.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LachieLachie Neale at training on Tuesday.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Anderson continued: \u201cIf you\u2019ve had 15 years of being a great example for young players and not getting suspended and playing the game like Lachie Neale does, it\u2019s something deserving some credit for him if he does have a lapse, even if it\u2019s an intentional minor lapse.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe one of the best and one of the fairest players to have played the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the AFL was adamant that Neale should be penalised for an incident \u201ca long way off the ball\u201d.<\/p>\n

The AFL\u2019s counsel, Andrew Woods, KC, strongly argued that it was an intentional act.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou take into account the medical report … it does confirm that he [Ginnivan] required immediate on-field assessment by a doctor,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was off the ball. It was a long way off the ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cGinnivan wasn\u2019t expecting it. He couldn\u2019t expect it \u2026 he wasn\u2019t braced, and he took the full impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson, however, said Neale\u2019s action was a \u201cbody check\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe respectfully submit that when you have a careful [examination of the footage and Neale\u2019s testimony] \u2026 this was not a strike with the left arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a body check, primarily with the body and shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a classic punch in the guts.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the very most, the contact [on Ginnivan] from that left arm is negligible, or such a level to classify it as low impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is not a frame of this vision where you see a fist in Ginnivan\u2019s torso.\u201c<\/p>\n

Neale was asked if he knew what was at stake when he targeted Ginnivan. Specifically, he was asked if he knew that by committing a reportable offence during the game, he risked missing a grand final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever thought about that during a game of football, about the consequences of a report. I\u2019ve just tried to play as fairly as possible and stick up for my teammates,\u201d Neale said.<\/p>\n

Neale explained that he clashed with Ginnivan because he was unhappy with the Hawk\u2019s treatment of Eric Hipwood seconds earlier.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I was very close to the incident between Jack [Ginnivan] and Eric Hipwood … where it seemed that Jack … gave him some jumper punches,\u201d said Neale.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel that that looked great.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to show my disappointment in that action, and ran past Jack and body check, bump him and felt that my shoulder made contact with his body and shoulder first.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Nick<\/a><\/p>\n

Neale faced questions whether Ginnivan would have known he was approaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can see him [Ginnivan] look a step or two before I make impact,\u201d Neale said.<\/p>\n

The Lion confirmed that it was an off-the-ball clash. \u201cNo, the ball is not in the area,\u201d Neale said.<\/p>\n

Neale said he spoke to Ginnivan ahead of the tribunal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to Jack this morning on the phone,\u201d Neale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Ginnivan] said it felt more like a bump [or a] body check [rather] than a strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said my body force made him go to ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Neale was running away from the incident, the veteran Lion explained why he gestured with a diving motion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt that Jack might have taken a dive to get a free kick, and that was why I was indicating a diving action,\u201d Neale said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Ginnivan] had a bit of a smile on his face, but didn\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lachie Neale is sensationally out of the grand final after the AFL tribunal upheld his one-match ban for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-901549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}