Lachie Neale has confirmed he has played his last game for the Brisbane Lions and will leave the club in the off-season.
The 33-year-old had a rollercoaster week which saw him suspended for a jumper punch on Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan in the preliminary final.
The ban was upheld at the AFL Tribunal but eventually overturned at the AFL Appeals Board due to Neale’s exemplary record and the fact he had never previously been suspended in his 320-game career.
The Lions midfielder wasn’t quite at his influential best in the grand final win but finished with 20 disposals as he claimed a third premiership medal. He received a frosty reception from the crowd at the MCG, booed whenever he touched the ball.
Speaking on the field post game, Neale confirmed he would be departing the Lions, saying “I’m going to miss them”.
“It just doesn’t feel real at the moment but I’m sure it’ll sink in,” he told Channel 7.
“I’ve absolutely loved my time at this footy club. They’re an exceptional organisation from top to bottom and I can’t thank them enough for the last eight years.
“It’s been an incredible ride. The best eight years of my life. To finish it with three premierships is something as a kid I never would have dreamt of.
“I’m sure they’re going to keep competing. That’s the club they are and the people they’ve got and the players they’ve got as well.
“I love this group and I’m going to miss them very much.”
Neale’s contract at Brisbane is expiring and he is widely expected to join Collingwood on a three-year deal worth as much as $1 million per season. It will likely be the final contract of his career.
Brisbane claimed a thrilling seven-point win to clinch a premiership three-peat, scoring the final four goals to take the lead in the dying stages of the game.
Several Lions players revealed the team used the noise of the Fremantle’s ‘Wharfie Time’ rallying cry as motivation to change the course of the game in the final quarter.
Originally published as ‘I’m going to miss them’: Lachie Neale confirms worst kept secret