There has been major injury added to the insult of Brisbane’s qualifying final loss with superstar Lachie Neale’s finals series over after going down late in the game.

The Lions recalled the dual Brownlow medallist this week after he missed a month with a quad injury, but in just his first game back, he pulled up lame with a calf issue in the dying minutes on Friday night.

Brisbane confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Neale would not take any further part in the club’s finals campaign after scans confirmed a tear in his right calf, with the star midfielder expected to miss at least four to six weeks.

The cruel blow has raised big questions over Brisbane’s premiership candidacy with Neale sidelined, as the Lions will now turn their attention to hosting a semi-final next weekend against one of Fremantle or Gold Coast.

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Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jon Ralph called it a “shattering” blow for the Lions on Friday.

An understandably flat Brisbane coach Chris Fagan spoke on the superstar’s injury in his post-game press conference.

“Looks like he’s done (his) calf. So, that’s not a good thing,” Fagan said late Friday night.

“He’s a pretty tough sort of guy, he can usually play through those, but he couldn’t (tonight), so I’m not expecting great news there.

“I don’t know the severity, because you need to get a scan to find that out … I’d suspect it’s something significant.”

Asked if he thought the Lions could still win the premiership without Neale, Fagan said: “I haven’t even thought about that — I’m just worried about trying to win a game next week.

“I’ve probably stayed neutral on the answer to that question, mate. I don’t know.

“He’s a great player, so obviously, he helps, and we’ve got quite a few other guys that are injured at the moment who aren’t playing.

“So, whether that adds up to too many injuries and makes it difficult, I’m not sure, but we’ll continue to play with spirit, we’ll continue to go at the game, and we’ll get out there next week and try to deliver a better performance than we did tonight.”