Sports

Brisbane Lions midfielder Lachie Neale will appear before the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night to contest a one-match ban that would rule him out of the Grand Final against Fremantle, after the Match Review Officer graded an off-the-ball strike on Jack Ginnivan as intentional conduct, medium impact, and body contact. The closest precedent this season — Adelaide's Max Michalanney, who received an identical MRO grading — had his one-match ban upheld at Tribunal, making Neale's unblemished 320-game record the central argument for invoking the guidelines' exceptional and compelling circumstances clause. The Tribunal retains discretion to depart from the standard one-match table outcome, but the guidelines explicitly state that a good record does not automatically guarantee a reduction.

The Tampa Bay Rays hired Legends Global on September 18, 2026, to manage construction oversight and lead naming-rights, sponsorship, and premium-seating sales for a planned 31,000-capacity ballpark targeting an April 2029 opening. Public financing of up to $876 million has been approved by Hillsborough County and Tampa, with the Rays responsible for roughly $1.37 billion and all cost overruns. Several financing and legal steps remain pending, including CRA actions deferred to November and bond-validation proceedings not yet confirmed as filed.