Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale will have a “pep in his step” after sensationally being cleared to play in the AFL grand final.
The dual Brownlow Medal winner will feature in the premiership decider against Fremantle – his former club – at the MCG on Saturday after having a one-game ban for striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan downgraded in a drama-filled hearing on Thursday.
Neale was instead fined $10,000 as the appeals board gave the four-time All Australian midfielder the ultimate reprieve due to having never previously been suspended in his decorated 320-game AFL career.
“The last couple of days have been nerve-racking,” Neale told reporters at the Lions’ hotel in Melbourne.
“Being in footy finals territory, I wasn’t sure what to do with myself.
“I am very happy with the appeal board’s decision.
“I am looking forward to playing the grand final now.
“I’ll definitely have a bit more pep in my step.”
For the second year in a row, Neale was the headline story of grand final week.
Last year, the 33-year-old famously overcame a calf injury that appeared season-ending to play a second-half super-sub role in the Lions’ stunning demolition of Geelong.
Twelve months on and Neale only had himself to blame for retaliating to Ginnivan’s treatment on Lions teammate Eric Hipwood in last Saturday’s classic preliminary final.
Neale’s fourth-straight grand final will almost certainly be his last for the Lions, with a move to Collingwood looming in the off-season.
“Who says it’s my last?” Neale replied to a question about his future.
When asked if he was staying at the Lions, he said: “I didn’t say that. We will wait and see what happens at the end of the year.”
Harris Andrews, who held the past two premierships aloft with Neale as co-captains, was excited about the result.
“Obviously very excited for him and us as a team,” Andrews told the Nine Network.
“It’s been a pretty big week in the media for him, and to get the result of him playing is unreal.
“He’s been an integral part of our footy team and club for the last eight years, and has proven to be a really big game performer as well.
“Absolutely pumped for him.”
Defender Noah Answerth, who was injured in Brisbane’s qualifying final loss three weeks ago, would have likely returned had Neale been suspended as he trained strongly on Thursday.
With rain expected on Saturday, Neale will figure prominently as one of the Lions’ best wet-weather players.
Brisbane take an unchanged team into the grand final as they attempt to become just the third side in the last 69 years to complete an AFL premiership three-peat.
