Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Fremantle coach Justin Longmuir has cast a cynical view on the decision to clear Lachie Neale to play in the grand final, declaring he felt the Brisbane star was always going to take to the field.
And even the lawyer who represented him at the AFL tribunal and appeals Board said the dual Brownlow medallist had used up his “exceptional circumstances” credits.
The Lions’ bid for a three-peat of flags was boosted when Neale won his bid before the appeals board on Thursday to downgrade his one-match ban for contact on Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan to a fine.
Saturday’s grand final will potentially carry extra significance after Lions coach Chris Fagan hinted that it could be his swansong.
“It’s fair enough to speculate about it, but I honestly don’t know right at this point in time whether I’ll keep going or not, but it was like that last year and the year before. So, just got to work out the right time to go,” Fagan, 65, said.
The buildup to the decider, which is expected to be played in cold and potentially wet conditions, has been dominated by Neale’s tribunal case.
Barrister Adrian Anderson, who represented Neale, successfully argued that Neale should not be penalised twice for the intentional nature of his act, once with the one-match ban and then by having his right to claim exceptional circumstances overlooked.
“[We argued the intentional nature of the offence] has already been taken into account in the grading of the offence, and it’s akin to using it both as an element of the charge and as a circumstance of aggravation, and that was the basis upon which the appeal board found that there was error in the reasoning about exceptional and compelling circumstances, and overturned the decision,” Anderson said on ABC Radio
Neale, who has been found guilty of minor striking offences before but never suspended, is unlikely to be eligible to claim exceptional circumstances in the future.
“I would think not… He’s probably had that chance to use that … I doubt he’d be able to use it again,” Anderson said.
Neale joined teammates in their light captain’s run at the MCG after the grand final parade, and did not appear emotionally impacted by the week’s events.
Longmuir said he had expected Neale to be cleared all along.
“I’m a bit cynical with these things. Sometimes I feel like that’s the outcome that gets reached a little bit later than what I thought it would get reached,” Longmuir said.
“We prepared for Brisbane’s best, and he’s clearly in their best team. Even if he didn’t play, we felt like someone else would have had to step up, and they’ve got a lot of those ’someone else’s that are probably searching for midfield time.”
Neale, suspended by the AFL tribunal on Tuesday night, told Fox Footy on Friday he thought for most of the week he may not play.
“You’re never really sure how these things are going to go. [I’m] very happy that it’s gone my way,” he said.
Neale was adjudged second-best on ground in the 2024 flag win, and had a major impact coming off the bench as the substitute last year despite a calf issue.
On the eve of another shot at history, Fagan was relieved that Neale had been cleared to play.
“Yeah, it was good news. I mean, I didn’t think he would [win],” Fagan said.
“It was a bit like last year. You know, we didn’t know he was going to be playing last year until a day before the game when he got through a fitness test. So, sort of history repeating itself, in a different way. Yeah, we were pretty much ready for him not to be playing, I must admit.”
Fagan said defender Noah Answerth would have taken Neale’s spot had the dual Brownlow medallist lost his appeal. He said half-back Jasper Fletcher would have shifted to a wing, indicating Levi Ashcroft would have taken Neale’s spot in the middle of the ground.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said on Friday he “was happy with how the process had played out”.
Lions co-captain Harris Andrews said the Neale saga had helped his teammates “go under the radar”.
“There’s going to be moments which you don’t experience throughout the season. So, I guess as a guy that’s had a little bit of experience in this space, for guys like ‘Drapes’ [Sam Draper] and [Oscar Allen] it just gives them the opportunity to be themselves and actually just enjoy the moment.”
Fagan, is contracted until the end of 2027, but the dual premiership mentor who has been instrumental in rebuilding the Lions over the past decade said on the eve of his fourth-straight grand final that his future should not be “the big issue”.
Coaching great Leigh Matthews, a Lions’ board director, speculated this week that Fagan may step away.
Fagan this year passed Matthews’ record of 237 games coached at Brisbane, the pair and their wives sharing a weekly Wednesday night dinner together.
The Dockers are also chasing history, and were in good touch at their captain’s run at the home of football.
They, too, are on the cusp of history, for they have yet to win an AFL premiership, having joined the league in 1995. Longmuir declared his team was ready for the spotlight.
“Yeah, I think we are ready, this is not a flash in the pan. We have built over a number of years,” he said.
“It should stand us in really good stead.”
Fremantle captain Alex Pearce said he had banished thoughts of “immortality” at potentially becoming the first Dockers’ men’s premiership skipper.
“Definitely something that I have been conscious of but, I think as it’s gotten closer to the game, I’ve been really mindful of controlling what we can control and making sure that my efforts and attention and the team’s efforts and attentions are going into things that matter and that can help us win on game day,” he said.
The Dockers lost their only grand final, in 2013 to Hawthorn, also to dynastic unit then led by Alastair Clarkson.
Lions co-captain Harris Andrews said his team would be ready for “Wharfie time” should it arise.
If the game is close in the final quarter, the Dockers will have the ability to play the ‘Wharfie Time’ video and music – AC/DC’s Hells Bells – at the MCG as part of their post-goal celebrations.
GWS running defender Lachie Whitfield met with Melbourne as well as Carlton this week as the former number one draft pick edges closer to a move away from the Giants.
The two-time All-Australian met with the Blues on Thursday and had an informal meeting with Melbourne this week. St Kilda have also expressed interest in the offensive defender but the Saints have not yet met with him.
Whitfield has yet to do a medical at any club but is likely to do so next week.
While contracted for next season, Whitfield is a free agent at the end of next year and the Giants have privately told clubs they would be open to offers for him. They would want a late first round pick in return.
Between them, tomorrow’s grand final combatants have played just five games at the MCG this season, so today’s captains runs were a good chance to familiarise themselves with the venue.
The Lions, of course, are no strangers to the G, given they’ve won the past two grand finals, still their exposure was limited this season.
They lost the Melbourne there back in round six (April), conquered Collingwood in convincing fashion in round 24 a month ago and snuck over the line against hawthorn in last week’s preliminary final.
Fremantle have only played twice at the MCG this season. Like the Lions they lost to Melbourne – that was in round 22 (last month). Their other game was a win over lowly Essendon in round 10 (May).
Victoria’s AFL grand final-eve public holiday has been around since 2015 and has been put to good use today, with tens of thousands of people attending the parade and families elsewhere making the most of time together on the school holidays.
However, when we asked our subscribers what they thought about the public holiday, the results fell marginally in favour of the public holiday being abolished.
Our poll question was: Should Victoria’s grad final-eve public holiday be scrapped?
It showed 48 per cent of 1813 respondents voted “yes”, 44 per cent voted “no” and eight per cent were undecided.
The Lions have completed their brief run, and were given a standing ovation as they left the field.
Well, that’s the end of the official build-up. We’re on to the real show tomorrow.
The Lions have hit the fabled MCG turf for their final captain’s run of the season. There are thousands of fans watching – and cheering – on.
The players are going through activations and light ball work.
Tony Carroll booked his flight to Melbourne, and accommodation, in May.
“We were on a roll and I just thought why not. I just felt confident,” the Fremantle fan said.
He is one of the lucky ones. Getting in early, he paid standard airfare prices for the time of year. His daughter, Felicity, paid about $1600 for a return flight and one night’s accommodation. Others have paid well over $2000 just for flights, with one group of passionate and thrifty fans chartering their own flight for cheaper than airlines were charging.
A foundation member and part of the cheer squad, Tony was born and raised in Fremantle. But before they had a team in the AFL, he was forced to bide his time, vaguely following Richmond – his brother’s team – and then the Eagles.
Footy fans heading to the MCG for tomorrow’s grand final should rug up, with the weather bureau warning of a “cloudy, rainy, cold and drizzly day”.
Light rain and showers are forecast throughout the day, with the highest chance of rain occurring during the morning and early afternoon.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Jonathan How said the predicted temperature had dropped to a high of 15 degrees, adding people heading to the G should expect “a soggy commute in”.
“By the time the game kicks off at 2.30pm, it’ll pretty much still be under that rain band,” he said.
“That’ll last until about 5 or 6pm.”
