Lachie Neale tribunal hearing: Live coverage as Lions star looks to be freed to face Fremantle in grand final
It’s the biggest question of grand final week: Will Lachie Neale be freed to play? Follow all the developments from the AFL Tribunal hearing here!
AFL: It’s the biggest question of grand final week: Will Lachie Neale be freed to play?
The Brisbane star is fronting the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday afternoon as he looks to overturn a one-match ban for striking that currently has him missing Saturday’s clash against Fremantle.
The verdict looms as a significant one for the grand final, with Neale one of the Lions’ most prominent midfield stars in the match-up with his former club.
Follow all the developments from the hearing below, with proceedings set to get underway at 3pm WA time.
Key events
54 mins ago - 05:13 PM
Deliberations underway
57 mins ago - 05:10 PM
Gleeson says Neale is ‘pretty close’ to a unicorn
1 hour ago - 05:03 PM
The AFL responds as we pass the two-hour mark
1 hour ago - 04:50 PM
Gleeson says an ‘intentional’ strike would make Anderson arguments innaporpriate
1 hour ago - 04:23 PM
The Tribunal chair pipes in
1 hour ago - 04:09 PM
The Lions go back to the vision
2 hours ago - 03:47 PM
The AFL says Neale’s action is a clear strike
2 hours ago - 03:36 PM
Neale is now being questioned by the AFL
2 hours ago - 03:25 PM
Neale says he’s spoken to Ginnivan
2 hours ago - 03:16 PM
Neale describes the incident
3 hours ago - 03:05 PM
We’re underway
3 hours ago - 03:00 PM
The argument Brisbane will try to make
3 hours ago - 02:38 PM
What’s at stake
Jake Santa Maria is reporting live.
We’re underway
Lions representative Adrian Anderson outlines the points they’ll try to make.
“We argue that it is not a strike, and if it is, that it is low impact rather than medium and if the Tribunal rules against us on that, that there are exceptional and compelling circumstances.”
The AFL says it will not support or go against the exceptional circumstances and will leave that to the tribunal.
The argument Brisbane will try to make
There have been several players who have been banned for gut punches this season and have not had them overturned.
The precedent the Lions will try to follow is when Scott Pendlebury got his one-match rough conduct banned overturned due to ‘exceptional and compelling circumstances,’ earlier this eason.
In that instance, the Pies cited how the 400-gamer had never been reported or banned previously in his career, which some fans accused as a ‘good bloke clause’.’
The actual wording is this: “If a classifiable offence is contested or referred to the tribunal, a player with an exemplary record may argue that their good record constitutes exceptional and compelling circumstances.”
Neale is a 320-gamer who, like Pendlebury, has never been suspended, so that will be the avenue for success.
What’s at stake
You cannot understate just how important Lachie Neale is to the Brisbane side, and if you need a reminder, watch his second half against Geelong in last year’s grand final.
He almost won the Norm Smith playing just half a game after being a sub and is crucial for Brisbane’s centre bounce structure.
A ban would also deny him a grand final farewell with Neale to join Collingwood next season, meaning last week’s prelim could be his last in Lions colours.
If Neale were banned, the Lions would likely have to move their dangerous small forwards like Zac Bailey or Cam Rayner into the midfield more, which would negate what will be their biggest strength over the Dockers at the weekend.
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the biggest AFL Tribunal case of the season as Lachie Neale’s grand final fate rests in the hands of the lawyers after receiving a one-match ban for striking Jack Ginnivan in the Lions’ epic prelim final win over Hawthorn.
The hearing should be getting underway around 3pm and both teams will be intently watching the outcome of this case.
