Brisbane remains confident superstar Lachie Neale will be fit to face Geelong in the preliminary final despite a worrying incident in the dying stages of Saturday night’s thrilling win over the GWS Giants.
The Lions pulled off a miraculous comeback to overturn a 44-point deficit and win by five points in one of the great AFL finals.
After Joe Daniher put Brisbane in front with just over two minutes remaining, the ball was parked in the Giants’ forward half for much of the thrilling finale.
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At one point, Neale chased opponent Toby Bedford to a loose ball towards the boundary line.
As the ball bounced out, Neale appeared to roll his ankle and immediately clutched at his foot.
He was a slow to get up and looked proppy, but played out the final minutes to help seal the memorable victory.
Immediately after the match, 7NEWS AFL reporter Mitch Cleary said it’s been an injury he carried into the game.
“Cameras caught him just in the last two or three minutes, grabbing at the lower ankle/foot. It is an injury, I’m told he carried into the game a little bit so it will be one to watch in the build up to next week,” he said.
Neale was all smiles in the rooms after the match as he soaked up the incredible victory.
Coach Chris Fagan confirmed the two-time Brownlow medallist has been battling a “sore foot” for a number of weeks now.
“A lot of players in the AFL are playing sore at the moment. He’s had a bit of a sore foot for quite a few weeks now, his training has been modified,” Fagan said.
“If you come down and watch as train, you probably won’t see him on a Tuesday, you’ll see him on a Thursday and he’ll look not very good and then by the time we get to a game he’s good to go.
“He’s tough. But he’s not the only bloke in our team that’s playing a bit sore at the moment.”
But there is little doubt on his availability for next week’s preliminary final.
“He’ll be right, he’s not in any danger of missing,” Fagan added.
Neale himself didn’t address the concern when speaking to Channel 7 immediately after the match, which he hailed as the “best he has been a part of”.
“Unbelievable and such character from the boys. We’ve been questioned at times if we’ve got that killer instinct … For us to have a come from behind win like that, I’m so proud of the boys,” he said.
Neale also paid tribute to his teammates for the comeback, but revealed he wanted to take Daniher’s free kick in the final minutes.
Sam Taylor was penalised for insufficient intent in the pocket with both Daniher and Neale appealing.
The position favoured a right-footer, but Daniher assumed responsibility and thread the eye of the needle to bring the Lions to within a point.
“Joe the ice man at the end, I wanted that kick for the deliberate being a right-footer and Joe said ‘nah mate get out of the way, I’m the man’ and he slotted that one from the boundary,” he said.
“Fantastic scenes and that can launch ourselves into next week against Geelong now.”
