AFL grand final: Brisbane Lions confirm they will appeal Lachie Neale tribunal result after suspension upheld

Brisbane will use their final roll of the dice in a last-ditch effort to get Lachie Neale freed to play in the grand final, with the club to lodge an appeal of Tuesday’s AFL Tribunal verdict.

Despite a marathon, four-hour hearing on Tuesday night which saw the AFL tribunal uphold the decision to ban the Brisbane star from Saturday’s blockbuster, the Lions are set to do everything possible to regain the midfielder for the clash with Fremantle.

The Lions on Wednesday confirmed they will appeal the decision to not overturn the suspension, which will force the AFL’s independent appeals board to convene in the lead-up to the grand final.

The appeal is likely to take place on Thursday.

Neale had argued his excellent previous record should not prevent him from lining up in the grand final despite striking Hawthorn forward Jack Ginnivan in Brisbane’s preliminary final victory.

However, the tribunal rejected that notion and pointed out he had previously been fined multiple times for punching players in the stomach.

Neale’s inclusion would provide Brisbane with a huge boost, having been the runner-up in Norm Smith Medal voting in Brisbane’s 2024 flag win and overcome a calf injury to produce an inspirational performance in their 2025 triumph.

It always seemed likely Brisbane would attempt to overturn Neale’s suspension for the biggest game of the year, with his Lions teammate Dayne Zorko telling Nova 100 Melbourne’s Jase, Lauren & Clint on Wednesday morning he expected the club to do everything possible.

“I can imagine, like most of us or all of us, he (Neale) is really disappointed with the outcome of it all but the club will do everything in their best interest to take it one step further I assume,” Zorko said.

“I haven’t spoken to anyone from the club about it, but I imagine we’ll probably go another step forward and see what can happen after that.”