AFL world erupts over Lachie Neale farce as Lions ace cleared for Grand Final

Two days after a monster four-hour hearing at the tribunal which found the Lions ace guilty of striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan, Neale saw his punishment downgraded in truly bizarre circumstances.

The Lions’ argument was nothing more than a bid to have Neale fined, or even serve his suspension in Round 1 instead of a grand final in an appeal that was described by Fox Footy’s David Zita as “a cry for help effectively from the Lions and asking for mercy”.

And to the shock of almost the entire AFL world the board determined that due to Neale’s exemplary record he “should be afforded the benefit” and instead fined $10,000.

“I have never been more shocked by a decision in my years covering these tribunal and appeal hearings,” Zita told Fox Footy.

“It seemed unbelievable. The most extraordinary decision I can recall.

“Lachie Neale himself looked like he was in disbelief.”

Neale told reporters after his reprieve “he wasn’t very hopeful”, while Matthew Lloyd revealed that the Lions even thought it was a long shot.

“He said, ‘We are not hopeful at all’,” Lloyd revealed on Nine’s The Footy Show Grand Final Telethon, speaking about what source in the Lions camp had told him.

“It was a decision that (the Lions) felt they had 15 per cent chance of getting off.”

As for the appeals process, it was unlike anything the footy world had ever seen.

While the AFL brought new “sharper” footage to the board on Thursday, the vision was not allowed to be used and the panel appeared to be frustrated with the Lions’ appeal.

AFL great Garry Lyon described the entire hearing process as “utterly shambolic”, but said in the end the “right decision was made”.

“A $10,000 fine is substantial, the whack (on Ginnivan) was stupid,” he said on AFL360.

“It is utterly shambolic to arrive at a decision that ultimately could have been arrived at had the vision been available on day one.”

Nathan Brown said “there a different set of rules for grand finals” when incidents like Neale’s occur.

“I think this is good for footy,” Brown said on Nine.

“There will be people saying, ‘This is what we wanted to stamp out’ ... He is the best player in the game over the last few years. We want the big name players there (at the grand final).

“There will be plenty of boos going on when he gets the football, but the game will be better for it.”

Given the fact Neale has played over 300 games and never gone to the tribunal and has won the award for the fairest and best player in the competition twice, him missing a Grand Final would have been a tough pill to swallow especially for a charge that 12 months ago didn’t carry a suspension.

However, while several former AFL players voiced their relief as they felt the strike wasn’t worthy of missing an AFL grand final, it left a sour taste in the mouth of many fans, with the AFL’s post announcing Neale was successful met with outrage.

“What a joke! Just shows how the tribunal has become incompetent … A player who has been fined a number of times and then hits a player behind play off the ball gets off,” one irate fan wrote.

“Disgusting. Basically setting a precedent that in a prelim final you can hit whoever you want and get away with it,” another commented.

“One rule for marquee players another rule for everyone else. Bad call AFL,” a third said.

Neale’s ability to successfully appeal his fourth guilty striking charge on the basis that he was a ‘good bloke’ is sure to rub a lot of people the wrong way, especially given gut punches have been punished incredibly harshly all season.

Also one could definitely argue running 10m to smack someone off the ball isn’t really the definition of a ‘good bloke’.

But AFL boss Andrew Dillon says he is fine with Neale being free to play in this year’s grand final, but stressed the dual Brownlow Medallist was not cleared of wrongdoing.

“He was found guilty, but he was successful in being able to get it downgraded from a suspension to a fine,” Dillon told Nine’s Today on Friday.

“It’s not quite that (he was cleared). He has been found guilty and it is a substantial fine and he was able to argue the exceptional and compelling circumstances, which is a player who has played over 300 games without a suspension, it’s one that’s rarely invoked and ultimately I’m happy with the way the process played out and how they came to that finding.”

Was the Neale decision the right call?

Well, that depends what side of the fence you sit on.

While many think it sets a dangerous precedent to set, others argue that given that a Grand Final was at stake, the correct call was made.

Either way, Neale will line up on Saturday in a huge boost for the Lions in their search to win three straight flags.

Onto the Grand Final.

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