Lachie Neale cleared to face Fremantle in AFL grand final
Lachie Neale is free to play in Saturday's AFL grand final after the appeals board overturned his one-game suspension.
The Brisbane midfielder will line up against Fremantle, his former club, in the premiership decider at the MCG in Melbourne, according to The Guardian. Brisbane kept its star on the eve of the biggest game of the season.
The ban related to a striking charge on Hawthorn forward Jack Ginnivan. Striking covers hitting an opponent, and the match review officer — the official who grades incidents from each round — assessed it as worth one game.
Neale challenged that call at the tribunal on Tuesday night and lost. He then took the case to the appeals board. That is a separate panel that only steps in if there has been a legal error.
Appeals chair Richard Loveridge found the tribunal had erred in law around exceptional and compelling circumstances. The striking finding was downgraded. Neale was instead fined $10,000 and cleared to play.
The record mattered. Neale had not previously been suspended in 320 AFL games. He is also a dual Brownlow Medal winner, the league's award for the best and fairest player across the home-and-away season.
He had stayed in Melbourne while waiting on the appeal outcome, holding to his plan to remain with the group for grand final week whatever happened.
What makes this stand out is how rare these reprieves are. The last player to miss a grand final through a preliminary-final suspension before Neale's case was Collingwood's Anthony Rocca in 2003.
For fans, this means the decider keeps its shape. Brisbane has its co-captain and prime ball-winner against Fremantle. No late reshuffle. No debutant thrown into the middle.
