Minor incident, maximum effect | Gerard's Editorial (23.09.26)
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What is the opening context and setting for the episode?
Wednesday morning. This is your town. This is your station. This is Waitley.
The next couple of days, Footy Fest outside the MCG, where the Kylie Superstore I think is going to be a major feature. Fans are descending on this venue. The Grand Final Conversation is in full flow. We walked in with a Collingwood supporter who's here to see Steel Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury this morning and a half Carlton, half Brisbane family who just wanted to talk about Lockie Neal. And a big shout out to the purple people invading the town. I suspect this is going to be the distinguishing feature of the build-up to the Premiership Decider of 2016. If you are a Fremantle fan who has already arrived here in Melbourne, make yourself known. Give us a shout out at the SEN Van or send us a text.
Why is Lockie Neal’s tribunal hearing described as a “minor incident, maximum effect”?
0433-98-1116 on the 40-Winks Temper text. The difference is temper. The number one topic of the morning on the streets and in the The airwaves is Lockie Neil. At what point I wonder across four and a half hours of evidence and deliberation and ten minutes of reasoning, did last night's tribunal hearing reveal itself to be simply unfair? The trial of a minor incident to maximum effect. The determination, the fervor to rub Locking Neal out of the grand final has been resolute from the outset and entirely lost on me. On the scale of preliminary Final incidents that have been tried or cleared, this is barely a ripple. In my time, we watched as Barry Hall was captured full frame, thumping an opponent in the stomach before a two-week suspension was reduced to a reprimand.
We saw Trent Cochin leave a star opponent with concussion and never be asked to answer for the collision. Neil was tried and convicted with the full force of the
How did the tribunal interpret the video evidence of Neal’s strike?
football law. As I watched the frame by frame analysis on the grainy vision, I can't have been the only one wondering what on earth are we doing? Perhaps it was the moment when it was conceded during the testimony that the blurry vision would be difficult to see on your screen. Or maybe it was when the admission came that you could not identify the moment when Neil's fist was in Guinevan's abdomen. Likely it was when a 320-game career without suspension, who's twice earned the honor as the competition's fairest and best, did not qualify for the provision afforded. An exemplary record. Had you listened to the gravity of the finding, you would have mistaken Neil's action for an egregious assault, a king hit from a previous era.
He hunted down an unsuspecting victim and assailed him, rather than an arm swing that had no lasting impact whatsoever on Guinevan, who was acknowledged, saw it coming. The hawk fell to the ground, grinned, rose and trotted off completely unimpaired. I wonder if the vision had been of an acceptable quality never mind definitive, just an acceptable quality, if this is what it would have shown. The tribunal convinced itself of the opposite, and dismissed all of Neil's testimony.
What inconsistencies did the host highlight in the tribunal’s finding?
All of it. The Lion midfielder had delivered a cohesive and plausible explanation that challenged the vision to prove otherwise. But the onus was applied the other way. Bizarrely, bizarrely, the tribunal found this was a forceful blow delivered with a swinging arm and an open hand. So just to be clear, as you're preparing to call and text, this wasn't a gut punch. That's the tribunal's finding. It was delivered with a swinging arm and an open hand. How it could possibly determine an open hand rather than a clenched fist, well, that will remain one of life's great mysteries. But what it isn't is consistent with the vision, as it was repeatedly claimed. Suppositions and extrapolations outweighed the burden of proof and the consequences of the finding.
This was the perfect companion. To the Zack Butters case staged earlier this season.
Why do fans and commentators view the decision as unfair to Neal?
A week-long fiasco without the requisite audio. There's little sympathy for Neil because he's being tried in the public arena as a love rat rather than a champion footballer. He has conducted himself poorly throughout the year, from his private circumstances to his brazen efforts to join Collingwood.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the opening context and setting for the episode?
0:02–0:51
2
Why is Lockie Neal’s tribunal hearing described as a “minor incident, maximum effect”?
0:51–1:53
3
How did the tribunal interpret the video evidence of Neal’s strike?
1:53–3:12
4
What inconsistencies did the host highlight in the tribunal’s finding?
3:12–4:07
5
Why do fans and commentators view the decision as unfair to Neal?
4:07–4:54
6
What are the next steps for the Lions and possible appeals after the ruling?
4:54–5:31
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Whateley
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