even serve his suspension in Round 1<\/a> instead of a grand final in an appeal described by Fox Footy\u2019s David Zita as \u201ca cry for help effectively from the Lions and asking for mercy\u201d.<\/p>\nLachie Neale and red circleSource: Supplied<\/p>\n
Even more remarkably, clear vision of the moment Neale struck Ginnivan did emerge on Thursday morning – but after the Lions saw the Champion Data video they claimed it was \u201cinadmissable\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Appeals Board agreed the new vision could not be used in Thursday\u2019s hearing and in a verdict Melbourne great Garry Lyon said left him \u201cfloored\u201d, it was determined that due to Neale\u2019s exemplary record he \u201cshould be afforded the benefit\u201d and instead fined $10,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never been more shocked by a decision in my years covering these tribunal and appeal hearings,\u201d Zita told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt seemed unbelievable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most extraordinary decision I can recall.<\/p>\n
\u201cLachie Neale himself looked like he was in disbelief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lions hungry for historic three-peat | 00:45<\/p>\n
AFL360 hosts Gerard Whateley and Garry Lyon agreed the decision to fine and not ban Neale was the right one – but questioned the process it took to get there.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt became clear there actually was definitive vision but the AFL never sought it out,\u201d Whateley reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cChampion Data have 46 mounted cameras around the MCG running a project for the AFL around optical tracking.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd no one thought to check, \u2018Hey did one of your cameras pick this up?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201c(Brisbane) saw the vision and thought \u2018Holy hell, we can\u2019t use that!\u2019 because I\u2019m suggesting to you that it shows exactly what was suspected all along.<\/p>\n
Brisbane Lions arrive at Melbourne Airport.Source: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest tribunal case of the year didn\u2019t have a key piece of information as evidence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the Lions had pursued the case on the grounds of the verdict, it would have been shown.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it would have shown him striking Ginnivan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would have changed the whole nature of the case.<\/p>\n
\u201cNeale would have pleaded guilty, taken whole responsibility, thrown himself at the mercy of the court and relied on his record.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd been found guilty, given a $10,000 fine, and you can play!\u201d Lyon added.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we got there in the end,\u201d Whateley replied.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut honestly this is ill-befitting the status of this competition, the case and the stage of the grand final.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should hang their head over this, those in charge. It\u2019s no good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kylie to headline AFL Grand Final | 01:15<\/p>\n
Lyon described the fine as an \u201centirely appropriate decision\u201d, but agreed the drama and delays in reaching the verdict was unnecessary.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow utterly shambolic the process is, but at the end of the day the right decision has been made,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c$10,000 is substantial, the whack was stupid \u2013 it\u2019s worthy of a week in home and away and it\u2019s worthy of him and his record allowing to play in the grand final.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to be clear on this – the Brisbane Lions went \u2018Hello!\u2019, full bottle let\u2019s get a look at this vision. Had a look at it and went (clicks tongue) inadmissable.<\/p>\n
\u201cInadmissable for one reason.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is utterly shambolic to arrive at a decision that ultimately could have been arrived at had the vision been available on day one.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The decision to overturn Lachie Neale\u2019s ban and allow him to play in Saturday\u2019s grand final has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-904186","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\/904186","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=904186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790285054_933_poster-fallback.png\"\/)