Dual Brownlow Medalist Lachie Neale has stopped short of ruling himself out of the AFL Grand Final this year, should his Brisbane side make it that far.
An emphatic 53-point thumping of Gold Coast in their semi-final on Saturday night new sees the Lions within touching distance of a third straight grand final, now just one win away from the big dance.
And they did it without the star midfielder, who unfortunately went down with a calf injury in the final quarter of Brisbane’s qualifying final loss to Geelong.
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The Lions’ engine room demolished the Suns, with Will Ashcroft (game-high 11 score involvements), Hugh McCluggage (game-high 33 disposals) and Josh Dunkley (finals-record 18 tackles) leading from the front.
But Brisbane would unequivocally benefit from the return of their superstar ball-getter if they were good enough to progress to the season’s final day.
The club’s weekly injury report initially ruled out the 32-year-old for the remainder of the year, but speaking to Fox Footy in the stands pre-game, Neale confirmed he’s doing everything he can to be right for the last Saturday in September if the Lions get over the top of Collingwood next weekend.
“I’m giving myself a 50 per cent chance, but I think the physios and the doctors and the rest of the medical fraternity are giving me about a one per cent chance,” Neale told Fox Footy on Saturday.
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“I spoke about it this afternoon, I think in 20 years’ time I’d be kicking myself if I didn’t try everything in my power to get up for it.
“If the dominoes fall my way and that one per cent does come through, then it would be an amazing story.”
Asked if Chris Fagan should consider playing Neale in the grand final if the Lions made it and Neale was begging to play, Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall said: “I think the first thing the coach does is he goes to the medical team and says ‘tell me what I can do here’.”
Hall of Fame Legend Leigh Matthews said it wouldn’t be enough if Neale got through one session in the lead-up — he said the dual Brownlow medallist would have to get through the entire week of sessions to truly be in the frame, due to the fragile nature of the soft-tissue injury.
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“He’d have to train the whole of grand final week. In other words, not just the day before the game,” Matthews told Fox Footy.
“If you’ve got a muscular injury like that, you’d have to get through the two really big sessions, I would’ve thought, to say that, yeah, you’re ready to play the game, otherwise the risk would just be too great.
“Some injuries, you do (a test) the day before the game, as long as you’re okay, you play them. But this one, he’d have to be pretty much 100 per cent four, five days before the grand final.”
Reporting post-match on Saturday night, AFL Tonight’s David Zita said: “Quite extraordinary comments from (Neale) in the pre-game. I think he’s telling everyone who will listen that he is still a chance; spending hours a day inside a hyperbaric chamber to try and get himself right for potentially returning within three weeks of what should be a four-to-six calf tear.”
Neale’s qualifying final against the Cats was his first in just over a month, after a quad complaint cut short his home-and-away season.
The on-baller was instrumental in most of Brisbane’s premiership campaign last September, including a 35-disposal, nine-clearance grand final that included 18 contested possessions.
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