Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan knew the potential ramifications.

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In fact, he admitted after Saturday’s grand final win over the Geelong Cats that he was “lying in bed” on Friday night thinking he would either look like “a total idiot or a total genius” after naming Lachie Neale as the sub.

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Neale’s season was supposed to be over after he injured his calf in Brisbane’s qualifying loss to Geelong earlier in the month and while there was always the risk he could reaggravate the issue, it was a gamble worth taking according to Fagan.

It paid off too with Neale recording 17 disposals, seven clearances and one booming goal in a pivotal second-half performance.

“If we had lost, and he’d only played a half, we’d probably be bemoaning the fact we went about it that way,” Fagan said.

“The bottom line was Lachie was fit to play. But how much game time could he play?

“Because basically, he’d played one game in 56 days, and coming into a grand final, I was a little bit worried about his ability to see the whole game out if he had to actually start.

“Lachie and I had a good chat during the week. (I said) ‘I want to play you mate, if you’re good to go, but this is the bit of the puzzle we have to sort out’ and he and I both agreed the best way to do it was for him to start off as the sub and introduce him into the game.

“I didn’t know when that was going to be, but it felt right to do it at halftime.

“I felt grateful that we were equal, and I thought he came on and (brought) great energy in the second half. It was a bit of a bold plan that came off but it might not have too.”

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While Josh Dunkley credited Neale after the game for his “selfless” attitude, stressing he was happy to play whatever role in Saturday’s game, injured Lions teammate Jarrod Berry was also praised for his team-first decision to pull himself out of the grand final.

That opened up a spot for Neale and the rest is history.

For Fagan, Berry’s selfless call was proof of the “brotherhood” the Lions have been building.

“A lot of the boys have moved away from home to come and play footy up there and they’re a really close group of people,” Fagan said.

“Jarrod Berry’s the driver of that, and probably has been since he was only a first or second-year player.

“We were sad for him today that he couldn’t play, but we had his jumper hanging up on the doors as we ran out, and everyone touched it.

“There was a bit of ‘Doing it for Bez’ in it as well, and I’m so glad he got a flag last year.”

While the Lions ended up cruising to another flag on Saturday, it was anything but an easy road there.

Not only did they have the toughest draw of any team, but they also had to overcome a number of injuries — including to skipper Neale — while this was also an incredibly young group without some of the more experienced faces that played in last year’s grand final.

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“The one we won this year… there’s been a lot of adversity and challenges,” Fagan said.

“We had the toughest draw, I think that’s been pretty well documented, we had a lot of blokes who played in last year’s grand final who didn’t play in today’s grand final.

“We went out there with a lot of 22-and-unders playing so it all bodes well for the club as long as we stay calm and don’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s been an amazing ride.”

Made all the more amazing by the fact it was also only three weeks ago that the Lions were on the wrong end of the scoreboard against the Cats, having seemingly lost Neale for the rest of the finals.

But when their dream of repeat flags appeared to be in tatters, Fagan pointed to a famous Nelson Mandela quote on their walls.

“We never lose. We either win or we learn and that’s the attitude we have tried to take,” Fagan said.

“I think everybody’s embraced that at the footy club.”