Lachie Neale cleared to play Grand Final after appeal replaces suspension with $10,000 fine

Brisbane midfielder Lachie Neale is eligible to play in Saturday’s AFL Grand Final after the AFL Appeals Board overturned his one-match suspension on Thursday and replaced it with a $10,000 fine.

The ruling clears Neale for Brisbane’s 2026 Grand Final against Fremantle at the MCG on Saturday, Sept. 26. Brisbane later named an unchanged side, with the dual Brownlow medallist included. After the decision, Neale said he was relieved to turn his focus back to the match.

The case stemmed from Brisbane’s preliminary final against Hawthorn, when Neale was cited for striking Jack Ginnivan in the first quarter. The AFL’s Match Review Officer graded the incident as intentional conduct, medium impact and body contact, which under the 2026 sanction matrix carried a one-match suspension. Neale challenged the ban at the AFL Tribunal but lost on Tuesday. In that ruling, Tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson KC said: “When played at normal speed, it appears clear to us that this was, to use the common vernacular, a strike to the guts. We are comfortably satisfied that this is what occurred.”

The Appeals Board’s decision turned not on whether the strike happened, but on how the sanction should be applied. According to AFL.com.au, the board found the Tribunal erred in law by taking into account whether Neale’s conduct was intentional when considering the league’s “exceptional and compelling circumstances” provision. The board said the relevant question was whether such circumstances existed even though the charge itself had been established. It found they did, pointing to Neale’s previously spotless disciplinary history across 320 games. Appeals Board chair Richard Loveridge said: “We find that Neale's record is exemplary, and that he should be afforded the benefit of the provision.”

That distinction matters. The Appeals Board did not exonerate Neale or overturn the underlying charge. The strike remained established. What changed was the penalty: instead of a suspension that would have ruled him out of the Grand Final, Neale received a fine.

The outcome also highlighted the significance of the AFL’s 2026 striking rules. Under those rules, intentional strikes to the body or head are treated as at least medium impact, which is why Neale initially faced a suspension rather than a financial penalty. On appeal, however, the board found his long clean record amounted to the kind of exceptional and compelling circumstance that justified a different sanction.

Neale, speaking after the ruling, said he wanted the focus to move quickly from the case to Saturday’s decider.

“I just want to thank the club…I'm obviously very happy with the Appeal Board's decision. I'm looking forward to playing in the Grand Final now. I just want to thank the club; (footy boss) Danny (Daly), everyone involved through the process and helping me play this weekend, and the AFL Appeal Board for their decision. After this, hopefully all the attention is off me and we get ready to play on Saturday in the Grand Final.”