Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale has confirmed he will take one last shot at playing in the grand final after his one-match ban was upheld by the AFL tribunal.
Neale boarded a flight to Melbourne alongside teammates on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the Lions’ AFL premiership decider against the Fremantle Dockers on Saturday.
The two-time Brownlow Medal winner has won two premierships as co-captain of the Lions and this year’s grand final would have been a fairytale way to wind up his playing career at the Brisbane club.
However he was handed a one-game ban for a behind-the-play hit on Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan in last weekend’s preliminary final, which the club unsuccessfully challenged that at the AFL tribunal on Tuesday.
The Lions confirmed they will now take the case to the AFL Appeals Board in a bid to have the star midfielder available for the premiership decider, and Neale briefly spoke to media after touching down on Wednesday afternoon.
‘The club and myself have decided to appeal the tribunal’s decision,’ he said.
Brisbane Lions player Lachie Neale (above) said he was ‘very hopeful’ his one game suspension would be overturned
Neale (above) was offered a one-match suspension for striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan, which he denied
‘Very hopeful that’s successful, but regardless of the result I’ll be here to support the boys and the club this week. It’s a big week for the club.’
The Appeals Board was set to hear the case on Thursday.
Neale’s case, as argued at the tribunal, was that he did not punch the Hawks player to the midriff as it appeared on the low-resolution footage but had knocked him to the ground using his arm and chest.
After a marathon four-and-a-half hour hearing, the tribunal upheld the charge and dismissed Lions’ pleas for a downgrade to a fine due to the importance of the game and Neale’s record of never having been suspended in his long and decorated career.
As well as costing Neale a chance to be part of a team seeking a rare premiership hat-trick, it also meant he has likely played his last game for the Lions as he is widely expected to move to Collingwood next season.
Neale’s off-the-ball blow on Ginnivan was graded as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact by match review officer Michael Christian.
The 33-year-old argued contact was made with his shoulder and chest and wasn’t a strike.
Neale said Ginnivan ‘might have taken a bit of a dive to get a free kick.’
Neale (above) on Wednesday confirmed the Lions were appealing the ban
‘My shoulder made contact with his body and shoulder first and my arm wrapped around Jack,’ he said.
‘But I didn’t feel like I was striking him at all. It was more a bump or body-check.’
But tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC dismissed Neale’s version of events.
‘We find that this was a forceful blow delivered with a swinging arm and an open hand,’ Gleeson said.
‘When played at normal speed, it appears clear to us that this was, to use the common vernacular, a strike to the guts.
‘We are comfortably satisfied that this is what occurred; we find that this is what Neale intended.
‘We have listened carefully to Mr Neale’s evidence but we find it was inconsistent in key respects with what we saw on the video and, to that extent, we do not accept it.’
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