Brisbane’s Lachie Neale to miss grand final as AFL’s one-game ban upheld

The prospect of Brisbane Lions’ midfielder Lachie Neale playing in Saturday’s AFL grand final has plummeted after his suspension for striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan in last week’s preliminary final was upheld by the AFL tribunal.

The two-time Brownlow medallist had never been suspended across 320 matches, but he failed to argue his exemplary record warranted this week’s ban be set aside due to the so-called exceptional and compelling circumstances afforded to Collingwood’s Scott Pendlebury earlier this year.

The Lions may still appeal the verdict, however, in a last ditch bid to have Neale take the field in Saturday’s season decider against Fremantle.

After more than two hours of submissions and another two hours of deliberations by tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson, and members Darren Gaspar and Scott Stevens, the tribunal found the 33-year-old had struck the Hawthorn small forward intentionally and with medium impact.

Gleeson finally delivered the verdict at 9.40pm on Tuesday night. “In the end, Neale delivered an intentional strike off the ball to an unsuspecting opponent,” he said.

“To use the language that has been used more than once this evening, Neale intended to strike him in the guts for the way he behaved towards [Neale’s teammate Eric] Hipwood, and he did strike him in the guts.

“Even Neale’s outstanding record does not render a one-match suspension for that act inappropriate or unreasonable.”

The first quarter incident was behind play, and Neale explained earlier in the evening he approached Ginnivan after a physical confrontation between the Hawks player and Hipwood.

“I was very close to the incident between Jack and Eric Hipwood, where it seemed like Jack was on top of Eric and gave him a couple of jumper punches and got up and started to move along,” Neale said.

“I didn’t feel like that looked great, so I went to show my disappointment, I suppose, in that action.”

He argued, however, that rather than strike Ginnivan, his act was more of a “bump or body check”.

The AFL upgraded the penalty for such behaviour in 2026 in a crackdown on off-the-ball incidents.

Challenging the verdict would see Neale face the AFL appeal board in an 11th-hour bid to secure a favourable outcome, adding another storyline to the traditional buzz of grand final week. The Lions have until midday Wednesday to lodge their appeal.

New evidence is generally not allowable at the appeal board stage, meaning the club would be relying on clearing a high legal bar to have Neale take the field.

If Neale does escape a ban, Saturday could be his final match for the club he has captained to two premierships, against the side who drafted him in 2011. Speculation has linked the out of contract veteran with an off-season move to Victoria.

Or, more likely, Neale has already played his last of 185 matches in Lions colours.