Brisbane's Lachie Neale challenges his one-match striking ban ahead of grand final
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It's crunch time for Brisbane's Lachie Neale as the dual Brownlow Medallist tries to overturn a ban at the AFL Appeal Board so he can play in the grand final against Fremantle.
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he → try → Fremantle
Neale lost on Tuesday with the AFL Tribunal upholding his ban for striking Hawthorn's Jack Ginnivan.
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Tribunal → lose → Ginnivan
Now two days before the decider, Neale has his appeal, while we wait for Brisbane and Fremantle to announce their grand final teams later today.
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Brisbane → have → teams
Key Event
What do you think: should Lachie Neale be suspended?
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Neale → think → ?
New: Filters
Choose what information you see below by using filters
We'll have to wait and see
Any truth to the rumours more footage of the strike has been found?
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footage → choose → strike
Until something is mentioned in the hearing, we just don't know.
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we → mention → hearing
This is the first official appeal
Don't let him appeal.
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him → let → ?
They've had 1 go at it or it makes a mockery of the rules!
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Once the charge is laid, a player can accept the penalty listed.
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player → lay → penalty
If they don't, it goes to the Tribunal.
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it → do → Tribunal
That hearing came to the conclusion Lachie Neale should be suspended, but like any case like this, the club and player involved are within their rights to appeal the decision within the AFL system.
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club → come → system
If Neale happens to lose today's appeal hearing, then there is still a legal avenue open to him and Brisbane - but it would be costly and very last-minute.
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Key Event
What time will the appeal be heard?
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The Appeal Board hearing will begin at 4pm AEST.
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Like the initial Tribunal hearing, the hearing will be held remotely via video conference.
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Observers of the hearing are not allowed to record or share vision or audio of proceedings.
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In the opening quarter of the Hawks – Lions prelim at the MCG last Saturday night, Hawthorn's Jack Ginnivan clashed with Brisbane's Eric Hipwood.
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Ginnivan → clash → Hipwood
Ginnivan appeared to rag-doll Hipwood a couple of times as he lay on the ground.
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he → appear → ground
He got up and moved away, and then Neale ran by and closed in on Ginnivan.
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Neale → get → Ginnivan
The pair came together, Ginnivan went to ground, and both players separated.
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players → come → ground
The match review officer charged Neale with striking, classed as intentional conduct, medium impact, body contact, with a one-match ban.
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officer → charge → ban
The Tribunal hearing was on Tuesday night, where Neale's counsel argued that there was no strike, or if there was it was of "negligible impact".
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it → argue → impact
The fall-back position was that if the offence was found, then "exceptional and compelling circumstances existed to overturn the ban.
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circumstances → fall → ban
Neale testified he had seen Ginnivan jumper-punching Hipwood and went over "to express my disappointment".
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Ginnivan → testify → disappointment
He said contact was more like a bump or body-check.
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contact → say → bump
He said he had spoken to Ginnivan on the day of the hearing, who he said had agreed it wasn't a strike.
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it → say → hearing
However Ginnivan was not called to give evidence.
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Ginnivan → call → evidence
The AFL argued that it was "clearly a strike", that Neale had run away from the play to go to Ginnivan and that even if there was no injury and the Hawk had got up straight away, the potential for harm was there.
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potential → argue → harm
Neale's counsel argued that the Lions star had played 320 games of AFL and competed in "thousands and thousands of contests" without suspension and had won two best and fairests at the Brownlow - making the exceptional and compelling circumstances.
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star → argue → Brownlow
Giving lengthy reasons for the decision after two and a half hours of deliberations, Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC said that when the incident was played at normal speed, it was clear this was a "strike to the guts".
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this → give → guts
The new guidelines against gut-punches were "to stamp out this very sort of conduct" and that not even Neale's outstanding record made a one-match ban inappropriate or unreasonable.
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ban → stamp → conduct
The ban stood.
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ban → stand → ?
Now Neale is back, two days before the grand final, seeking again to have the ban overturned
If he fails, then Brisbane will lose him for the grand final, and Neale will have played his last game for the Lions before a likely off-season move to Collingwood.
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Neale → seek → Collingwood
Welcome back
Hello, good afternoon and welcome to a big afternoon as ABC's live online coverage of AFL grand final week resumes.
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coverage → welcome → week
Later today we will have the team selection for both the Lions and the Dockers.
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we → have → Lions
First up, however, we're back in remote hearing territory, as Brisbane's Lachie Neale goes to the AFL Appeal Board to try to overturn his one-match striking ban ahead of the biggest game of the year.
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Neale → go → year
Tuesday night's proceedings went for four and a half hours.
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proceedings → go → hours
We hope today doesn't go quite as long, but never take anything for granted in grand final week!
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today → hope → week
My name is Andrew McGarry, and I am here to bring you all the proceedings from Neale's appeal and the team news.
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…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
