‘Praying’: Brisbane Lions hope megastar beats ban
Steve Larkin |
Brisbane’s players are confident they’ll handle the adversity if gun midfielder Lachie Neale is banned for the AFL grand final.
Neale and the Lions on Tuesday night will challenge at the AFL tribunal a one-match ban offered to the two-time Brownlow medal winner.
If the suspension is upheld, Neale will miss Saturday’s grand final against Fremantle.
The 33-year-old has been charged with striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan in Saturday night’s preliminary final.
Neale’s gut punch on Ginnivan was graded as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact by match review officer Michael Christian.
With damning vision showing Neale guilty of the behind-play strike, and numerous precedents this season of other players being banned for one match for similar strikes, the Lions are set to argue the suspension should be downgraded to a fine.
Brisbane will cite a fresh clause that allowed Collingwood great Scott Pendlebury to avoid a suspension in March.
Pendlebury was given a one-game ban for rough conduct for a bump on Adelaide’s Josh Worrell.
He was found guilty by the tribunal but the sanction was downgraded to a $3000 fine due to “compelling and exceptional circumstances” – a clause open to the tribunal that will be central to Neale’s case.
The relevant clause states: “Players will not automatically receive a reduced sanction for a good record.
“However, 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”.
The Magpies successfully argued that clause applied to Pendlebury, who had never previously faced the tribunal in his storied 21-year career.
Neale also has not previously fronted the tribunal in a 320-game career. He is also a dual Brownlow medallist and premiership captain, plus a four-time All Australian and four-time club champion.
Geelong coach Chris Scott does not agree with the provision.
“Seriously, when we’re starting to say, ‘There’s a rule for you because you’ve done good things for the game’, it’s almost implying that other people haven’t done a good job,” Scott said on AFL360.
He added, however: “I know his record is exceptional, but aside from that, I just like to see them play.
“I mean, I actually think that’s going to be hard to defend personally, but my hope is that he does play.”
Scott added that the AFL could not have been more clear about their crackdown on gut punches.
“If you do it, you’re going to get a week. There’s no room to move, which doesn’t give them much room to move,” he said.
Meanwhile, Neale’s teammates are not yet dwelling on the possibility of losing the star on-baller for the premiership decider against his old team Fremantle.
“Talk about adversity, one of our best traits is being able to deal with that,” Lion Jarrod Berry said.
“We do it well and there’s no point putting energy into it until we know the result.
“We’ll be sitting tight and praying that he gets off. But if he doesn’t, we’ll face it when it comes.”
If the ban stands, Brisbane could take the case to the AFL Appeals Board in a last-ditch effort.
But if ultimately unsuccessful, Neale’s career at Brisbane could be over as he is expected to play for Collingwood next season.
AAP