Lachie Neale has addressed his grand final suspension for the first time as Brisbane get set to use their final throw of the dice to get the star midfielder cleared to face Fremantle.
Neale arrived in Melbourne alongside an extended Lions squad on Wednesday afternoon, with his status for Saturday’s decider still hanging in the balance after Brisbane opted to appeal the AFL Tribunal verdict of upholding his one-match ban.
The appeal will be held via video conference on Thursday afternoon, little more than two hours before team line-ups for the grand final are revealed to the public.
In his first public comments since the Match Review Officer’s verdict on Sunday condemning his strike to the stomach of Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan, Neale said he was firmly focused on his club rather than his individual case.
“Regardless of the result (of the appeal), I’ll be here to support the boys and the club this week,” Neale said at Melbourne Airport.
“It’s a big week for the club.”
Neale declined to take questions and instead deferred to fellow veteran Dayne Zorko, who then began his scheduled press conference.
Zorko said his teammate was coping without difficulty as he tried to balance his grand final preparation with the fallout from the battle to get the ban overturned and the considerable attention around it.
“Obviously it’s a lot, but yeah, he seems to be fine,” Zorko said.
“I sat next to him on the plane, and he’s just taking it in his stride.”
If his appeal is unsuccessful, Neale would be the first player to miss a grand final through suspension since West Coast’s Andrew Gaff in 2018. Gaff was serving an eight-match ban following his hit on Andrew Brayshaw in the final month of the home-and-away campaign.
More to come
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