Arabic version: تبرئة نيل للمشاركة في نهائي دوري كرة القدم الأسترالية بعد الاستئناف
According to The Guardian, Brisbane Lions midfielder Lachie Neale has been cleared to play in the AFL grand final against Fremantle after overturning a one-game suspension at the appeals board. The dual Brownlow medallist will instead be fined $10,000.
Neale had been charged with striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan. The charge was downgraded, allowing him to feature in Saturday’s premiership decider at the MCG against Fremantle, his former club. He had initially failed in challenging the match review officer’s one-game ban at the tribunal on Tuesday night.
For Brisbane to win on appeal, the club had to establish an error of law, an unreasonable decision, a manifestly excessive classification or a manifestly excessive sanction. The Lions persuaded the appeals board that the tribunal made an error of law by not considering exceptional and compelling circumstances linked to Neale’s record of 320 AFL games without a previous suspension.
Appeals chair Richard Loveridge said the tribunal had erred by considering whether Neale’s conduct was intentional. He said the relevant question was whether exceptional and compelling circumstances existed despite the charge being established, and found that Neale’s record was exemplary.
Neale avoids becoming the first player to miss an AFL grand final following a preliminary-final suspension since Collingwood’s Anthony Rocca in 2003. After Thursday night’s verdict in Melbourne, Neale said he was looking forward to playing in the grand final and hoped Brisbane could overcome a difficult challenge against Fremantle.
