The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-20 · by Michael Gleeson
Lachie Neale should still play on grand final day despite punching Jack Ginnivan in the guts and being reported for it.
asserted
Neale → play → it
He should still play in the grand final despite being found guilty of striking by the match review officer and despite the fact Adelaide’s Max Michalanney was, only days ago, found guilty of the same offence and suspended for round one next season.
asserted
Michalanney → play → round
Neale should be free to play the grand final for the same reason his teammate Charlie Cameron escaped suspension in 2024 and games record holder Scott Pendlebury, earlier this year, was allowed to play the week after being charged with rough conduct.
asserted
Pendlebury → play → conduct
It’s the compelling and exceptional circumstances provision.
asserted
It → ’ → ?
The two-time Brownlow medallist has never been suspended before in his 320-game career.
asserted
medallist → suspend → career
In the context of how many people play 300 games and then how many of those do so without a suspension, and the fact he has two Brownlow medals, Neale is the very definition of exceptional circumstances.
asserted
Neale → play → circumstances
In the 2024 Cameron case, a very minor additional point the tribunal considered was that he had also done extensive community work.
asserted
he → consider → work
This was not the reason his suspension was overturned at the time, but the AFL subsequently removed off-field behaviour as a character consideration.
asserted
AFL → overturn → consideration
Neale might be glad of that given his very public personal matters this year.
uncertain
Neale → give → matters
Pertinently, it was the only change the AFL made.
asserted
AFL → make → ?
They did not remove the broad exceptional and compelling circumstances provision, only the off-field part.
asserted
They → remove → field
They had every chance very recently to remove that provision if they wanted to, but they didn’t.
asserted
they → have → provision
So if the provision is there, it would be difficult to argue it should not apply to Neale.
asserted
it → argue → Neale
This is before considering the broader point which the AFL has for years stubbornly refused to do, which is to acknowledge – as they do in meting out punishments for offences committed in grand finals – that finals, and grand finals in particular, are worth far more than any other games, thus a suspension that forces a player to miss one is a much greater penalty.
asserted
that → consider → one
Until this year, an act such as Neale’s hit on Ginnivan would only have drawn a fine, but he now stands to miss a grand final for it.
asserted
he → draw → it
The irony is that it was former Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann who brought in the change when he took up his job at the AFL.
asserted
he → bring → AFL
Let’s not get distracted by the free kicks
Are we really going to do this?
asserted
we → let → this
Are we going to start our discussion about Saturday night’s game with conjecture about an umpiring decision?
asserted
we → go → decision
This was a game where 39 goals were kicked in front of 97,000 people.
asserted
goals → kick → people
It was one of the great finals of all time, so let’s not focus on an umpiring decision.
asserted
’s → let → decision
Recency bias naturally skews things, but this final stands with the storied 1970, 1989 and 2023 grand finals for greatness.
asserted
final → skew → greatness
It was a game that felt like Malcolm Blight was in one of the coaching boxes.
asserted
Blight → feel → boxes
The game exorcised the demons of niggardly football from coaches who have enjoyed describing themselves as defence first coaches, like this was something to boast about.
asserted
this → exorcise → coaches
Neither side defended that well, but that was because they both attacked so ruthlessly.
asserted
they → defend → that
More than 250 points were kicked between the teams.
asserted
points → kick → teams
The momentum shifted so decisively, so repeatedly it was like there were four games played on the night: Hawthorn won it in the first half, then had to win it again in the last quarter; Brisbane won it in the third quarter, gave it up in the last, then won it at the siren.
asserted
Brisbane → shift → siren
This game should never be distilled to an argument over whether the umpire was right to ping Jarman Impey for holding the ball?
asserted
umpire → distil → ball
Impey had an arm free and could have dropped the ball to his boot, as he belatedly did when he panicked and realised the umpire was about to penalise him.
uncertain
umpire → have → him
Players have been penalised all year for having an arm free and not getting rid of the ball.
asserted
arm → penalise → ball
They have been penalised in truly farcical situations of having an arm free when lying on the ground in a tackle and apparently not dropping it on their foot.
asserted
arm → penalise → foot
Those free kicks on the ground should not have been paid, this one should have.
asserted
one → pay → ground
The error here was that no Hawthorn players rushed in to join the tackle, create a pack and force a ball up.
asserted
players → rush → ball
The anger, disbelief and seething frustration witnessed at the MCG on Saturday night was in the context of the game and its consequence.
asserted
anger → witness → game
It was completely understandable – even if the moronic bottle-throwing is not condoned – because it was not a contest that deserved to end like this.
asserted
that → condone → this
It was also a result of the cumulative effect of three controversial decisions in a minute that all went against Hawthorn.
asserted
that → go → Hawthorn
To the Hawks, in their heightened emotional state, it felt like bias; a conspiratorial pile-on.
asserted
it → feel → bias
Having surged back to reclaim the lead in stunning fashion, only to have victory snatched by officialdom felt galling.
asserted
victory → surge → officialdom
In that moment, when the siren went it didn’t matter to Hawthorn fans that it was a correct decision because it felt wrong and unjust to have the game turn, not on the action of a player (and this puts aside whether you count Impey’s part) but an umpire’s decision.
asserted
you → go → part
It felt like there were so many other moments that should have been the indelible image of the game. Like Mitch Lewis’s pack mark, which had shades of Leo Barry.
asserted
which → feel → Barry
But even that moment had a taste of injustice about it for Lions fans, as replays revealed (not clear to the naked eye for those in front of the play) that Jack Gunston pushed Harris Andrews into the back and into the pack.
asserted
Gunston → have → pack
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
