GWS Giants seething Toby Greene has been cited for making facial contact with Lion Lachie Neale

GWS is fuming after Toby Greene was cited for making contact with Lachie Neale’s face. As the Giants prepare to fight the charge on Tuesday night, the Lions might have some evidence to help their man.

A happy Toby Greene heads off the Gabba after GWS Giants’ win on Saturday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

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Brisbane star Lachie Neale felt the impact of a strike from Toby Greene rather than contact to the eyes as the league prepares for a blockbuster finals tribunal case.

The league would seem certain to call Neale for victim testimony at the tribunal given the case hinges on any potential damage done to the Lions star.

The Herald Sun understands Neale believed he was punched in the incident that saw him grabbing his face as Greene ran away to chase the ball.

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Greene will face the tribunal on Tuesday night, 24 hours after Cat Tom Hawkins tries to beat his one-match ban.

On Monday morning his case might have been given a boost, with Lions coach Chris Fagan revealing Neale didn’t feel contact to his eyes — despite Greene being charged with making “unreasonable or unnecessary contact to the eye region”.

“He felt contact, he had no idea who it was,” Fagan told SEN.

“It wasn’t enough to stop him from playing on. It just caused him a little bit of disturbance for a few seconds, then he dusted it off and kept going.

“It wasn’t in the eyes, it was more to the nose is what he said to me yesterday.”

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A happy Toby Greene heads off the Gabba after GWS Giants’ win on Saturday. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Giants coach Leon Cameron was adamant his man shouldn’t be judged on past misdemeanours.

“I think it’s really clear last week Toby went to the tribunal and apologised for what happened, but this week we’ll go the tribunal again and defend Toby, but it’s a totally separate incident – and it needs to be treated on its merits,” he told SEN.

Footage appeared to show Greene had his fingers on Neale’s face in an incident that saw the MRO charge him with unnecessary contact to the eyes.

Damning testimony from Neale would increase Greene’s chances of having his suspension upheld but he sustained no lasting damage from the fracas.

He did not have any bruises or scratches on his face that would have factored into the medical report.

A furious Greater Western Sydney believes Greene’s bad boy reputation has been used against him after he was sensationally cited for making facial contact.

The most fined player in the AFL will have to defend damaging allegations of unnecessary contact to the eye region for the second week in a row after an ugly tangle with the Lions midfielder.

The AFL has doubled down on Greene’s conduct, setting the scene for a bumper finals tribunal hearing on Monday night that also includes Tom Hawkins’ strike on Will Schofield.

The Cats have decided to launch an appeal in a bid to clear Hawkins for the blockbuster final against Richmond on Friday night.

That appeal seems to be much more challenging given the clear-cut nature of his direct blow to Schofield’s head and the Eagles’ player’s immediate reaction.

But both clubs will believe they can become the fourth team to overturn an MRO decision at the tribunal after Gary Ablett, Michael Walters and Mason Cox successfully rolled the dice.

Christian said there was clearly sufficient evidence to charge Greene with a low-impact, intentional action.

He denied a player’s reputation played any part in their suspension despite the Giants’ ire.

“We went through vision from every angle and felt we had the required evidence to lay the charge. We were able to highlight vision, slow it down and determine on the balance of probabilities that it was Toby’s hand,” he said.

“We don’t give any weight to anyone in particular. This is totally in isolation to the incident last week.

“We determined that there was unnecessary and unreasonable contact with Toby’s hand to Lachie Neale’s eye region.

Using zoomed-in, slow-motion footage of Greene’s “facial” on Neale, Christian believed the GWS midfielder was clearly involved in an intentional action.

Toby Greene was last week sent straight to the tribunal for this incident involving Western Bulldog Marcus Bontempelli.

Neale immediately grabbed at his face in pain, a week after Greene was fined $7500 for serious misconduct against Western Bulldogs star Marcus Bontempelli.

The league believes the tribunal double act will proceed on Monday night.

GWS will feel last week’s tribunal events can pave the way for him to be cleared given AFL advocate Jeff Gleeson didn’t even push for a suspension for facial contact.

Greene didn’t have to answer to any charges relating to that facial contact last week despite being specifically referred for three incidents including putting his hands on Bontempelli’s face.

Lachie Neale at the bottom of a pack. Toby Greene in the vicinity. Neale ends up holding his face in pain. What happened there? Footage sketchy... pic.twitter.com/yNoM8OeHaU

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) September 14, 2019

This week’s incident didn’t seem as forceful, with Greene making contact with a quick jabbing motion rather than letting his hand linger over Neale’s face.

Privately the Giants are angry and believe Greene’s track record as a serial agitator often painted as a “footy villain” has influenced this case when previous poor records are not factored in.

The question of whether another player with low profile would have been cited in the same situation is one GWS believes hangs in the air.

Giants board member Jimmy Bartel made that point clear on 3AW radio.

Toby Greene claps the GWS crowd as celebrations start after the club’s semi-final victory. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

“I can see why there’s a lot of angst, anger — he peeves off opposition supporters and people in general because his record says he gets himself involved in this sort of stuff … there’s no denying that,” Bartel said.

“He gets under the skin, he agitates he frustrates, he does it all but he’s a bloody talented player.

“There’s always a focus on him. After what happened last week … the focus (was) directly on him.”

It is a huge blow for GWS as they attempt to secure a historic expansion Grand Final birth, with Greene judged their best player against the Lions after 30 possessions and two goals.

Geelong could argue Hawkins did not mean to intentionally hit Schofield but instead attempted to buffered him with an arm to the midriff.

They could argue he did not expect Schofield to bend down so suddenly, but was instead blocking him as he waiting for the ball further afield.

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But Hawkins track record — he has three previous suspensions since 2016 and two striking fines alone this year — makes it hard to argue he is simply clumsy.

And Schofield’s seeming reluctance to accept Hawkins’ apology post-match had Triple M’s Richard Champion adamant his testimony could be damning.

“I don’t think there is much hope of that (getting off at the tribunal). You can see Hawkins go up to Schofield after the game and say mate can you please look after me, help me out for God’s sake,” Champion said.

“And he (Schofield) was having nothing to do with it. It looked like he said, “Mate that really hurt, it was unnecessary and sorry ‘I’m giving you nothing’.”