Lachie Neale cleared to play in AFL Grand Final after appeal win
Lachie Neale will play in the AFL Grand Final after the AFL Appeal Board overturned his one-game suspension on 24 September. The Brisbane midfielder had been banned for striking Jack Ginnivan with a gut punch behind the play. The decision clears him to face Fremantle in the season decider. Nine
The Match Review Officer, the official who grades incidents on video, assessed the contact as intentional conduct with medium impact to the body. AFL.com.au That grading carried an automatic one-match ban. Brisbane challenged the ban at the Tribunal, which hears contested charges, and lost. The club then took the case to the Appeal Board, the league's final step.
Brisbane's second appeal centred on the league's "compelling and exceptional circumstances" provision. ABC Sport The Lions pointed to Scott Pendlebury's case as the precedent. Pendlebury escaped with only a fine earlier in the 2026 season for an offence that would usually draw a suspension.
Neale's record formed part of the argument. He has been found guilty of eight reportable offences across his career, all dealt with by sanctions short of a ban. That history includes three prior fines for striking an opponent off the ball.
The ruling sits uneasily with how the league policed this act through the year. The AFL applied an instant one-week suspension for gut punches behind the ball during the 2026 season. Nine players were suspended for similar actions. Neale's incident was judged deliberate and behind the play.
Public opinion was split down the middle. In an ABC Sport poll of 47,000 respondents, 42% said Neale should be free to play. That is less than half.
The overturned ban was for one game. The Guardian It was the difference between watching and playing.
For fans, this means the focus moves from the hearing room to the ball. Brisbane keeps a senior midfielder for the Grand Final against the Dockers. Fremantle must now plan for a Brisbane midfield with Neale in it. The bounce will settle the rest.
