Brisbane Lions make call on Lachie Neale after skipper spotted in worrying scenes before prelim

Brisbane Lions superstar Lachie Neale insists he'll be right to go for next weekend's AFL preliminary final against Geelong, despite being spotted in worrying scenes after Saturday night's epic comeback victory over Greater Western Sydney. Joe Daniher stood tall with two clutch goals in the fourth quarter to help the Lions overturn a 44-point deficit from the third term and snatch a five-point win - completing the second greatest comeback in AFL finals history.

The epic victory appeared to come at a cost for Brisbane as Neale looked to have injured his ankle in the final few minutes of the game. The two-time Brownlow Medallist was seen grabbing at it after being tackled over the boundary line and was then spotted wearing a moonboot after the game.

Neale was again pictured in the protective boot on Sunday as he returned home and walked through Brisbane airport, sparking obvious concerns around his fitness ahead of the showdown with the Cats. But the Lions superstar revealed on Monday that despite taking painkillers and dealing with a “fairly significant” heel issue for the past two months, he was “not in any doubt” for Saturday's prelim.

“Certainly not in any doubt, but probably over the last 8-10 weeks I have had a fairly significant issue with my heel but on game day it feels 100 per cent most of the time,” Neale told SEN on Monday morning. “It was probably the first game where it flared up a bit (against GWS). Obviously, take some painkilling stuff to help that and it must have worn off a bit and I must have moved in a different way and it was grabbing a bit more than usual.

“I don’t do much (training) early in the week and Thursdays if you watch training you probably think I am not going to play, that is how badly I have been moving. But game day I feel 100 per cent. (I will) definitely play but carrying a bit of foot and heel soreness at the moment.” Brisbane coach Chris Fagan also brushed off any concerns around his superstar, despite admitting Neale has been on a modified training program.

Brisbane Lions brush off Lachie Neale injury concerns

“He has had a bit of a sore foot for quite a few weeks now, so his training has been modified. He is tough. But he is not the only bloke in the AFL who is playing a bit sore at the moment,” Fagan said. “He will be right. He is not in any danger of missing next week. It has been like that for a while now. He lives with that just about every week now and I thought he still made a good contribution (against GWS).”

Neale had an uncharacteristically quiet game against the Giants after being tagged by Toby Bedford and only registering 19 disposals - his second-lowest tally of the year. But Fagan said it allowed other Lions stars to flourish and singled out Will Ashcroft's contribution in just his 11th game this season after recovering from a knee reconstruction.

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“If you are going to tag Lachie, well we will have Josh Dunkley, Hughie McCluggage and Will Ashcroft who will pop up, and that is what we need,” Fagan said. “We need an even spread of talent through the midfield and that is one of the positives of the night, that we didn’t need Lachie to play a super game for us to win. I thought Will Ashcroft... was awesome tonight and really stood up."

Fagan is mindful about the travel demands on his players after returning to Brisbane from Sydney, before flying out to Melbourne again for the prelim blockbuster against the Cats at the MCG. The Lions are hoping to get a big turnout of fans when they host an open training session at Brighton Homes Arena on Tuesday morning, with Monday expected to be all about rest and recovery as the Lions look to avoid a repeat of their 71-point thrashing by Geelong in the 2022 preliminary final.

“We need to move on pretty quickly. We need to do a better job than we did then,” the Lions coach admitted about the previous prelim against the Cats. “We will do our routine but not spend too much time celebrating this game (against GWS) even though it is worth celebrating.”

with agencies