AFL grand final: Peter Bell slams AFL for treating ‘footy fans like fools’ over Lachie Neale ‘charade’

Former Fremantle captain Peter Bell has condemned Lachie Neale’s “predictable” tribunal outcome after the Lions star was cleared to play in the grand final, saying the AFL has treated “fans like fools”. Neale was handed a one-match ban for gut-punching Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan during Brisbane’s preliminary final win on Saturday, a decision that was upheld at Tuesday’s marathon four-and-a-half hour tribunal. The suspension was taken to the appeals board on Thursday, which sensationally downgraded the ban to a $10,000 fine after more than two-and-a-half hours of deliberation, leaving the two-time Brownlow medallist free to play. The decision left a sour taste in Bell’s mouth, who called out the result for being “entirely predictable”. “I’d just rather we do without the rigmarole and all the charade, and we just have ‘we don’t think he should miss a grand final for this’,” Bell said on SEN.