{"id":173380,"date":"2025-09-27T18:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/173380\/"},"modified":"2025-09-27T18:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-27T18:31:09","slug":"bruce-mcavaney-comment-says-it-all-as-rest-of-footy-world-gets-it-wrong-on-lachie-neale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/173380\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce McAvaney comment says it all as rest of footy world gets it wrong on Lachie Neale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bruce McAvaney has declared Brisbane used Lachie Neale<\/a> “perfectly” in the AFL grand final<\/a>, after tipping him pre-game to have a huge impact. And Channel 7 colleague Kane Cornes has been forced to eat his words after initially labelling it “ridiculous”<\/a> that Brisbane were even considering playing him in Saturday’s decider.<\/p>\n

Neale thought his season was over<\/a> when he injured his calf just three weeks ago, and even took to social media with a post that he wouldn’t be playing again. But the Lions veteran completed a miracle comeback on Saturday when he stunned in the second half against Geelong.<\/p>\n

\"Lachie<\/p>\n

Kane Cornes (second from right) got it wrong on Lachie Neale (L), while Bruce McAvaney (far right) summed it up best. Image: AAP\/Getty<\/p>\n

Lions coach Chris Fagan rolled the dice on Saturday by using Neale as the sub to start the game. He came on in the third quarter and showed no signs of the injury, finishing with 17 disposals, seven clearances and a goal as Brisbane won by 47 points.<\/p>\n

It was a stunning second-half explosion after the scores were level at 36-36 at half-time, with Neale providing an incredible left in the second term. Speaking after full-time, McAvaney declared Fagan got it perfectly right when he decided to start Neale as the sub.<\/p>\n

McAvaney said before the game: “I think it’s testimony to the professional he is (that he’s playing). It\u2019ll be a big talking point tomorrow, and everyone\u2019s going to be watching. And you know, if he is able to get through the game and they win, it\u2019ll be one of the legendary grand final stories.”<\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/p>\n

Harris Andrews, Chris Fagan and Lachie Neale celebrate the Brisbane Lions’ triumph in the AFL grand final. (AAP Image\/James Ross)<\/p>\n

Kane Cornes admits he got it wrong on Lachie Neale<\/p>\n

Cornes, who was one of the strongest critics of Neale trying to play the grand final, said after Saturday’s grand final: “Chris Fagan knows his players the best and he got it exactly right with Lachie Neale.” It marked a complete 180 from Cornes, who said earlier this week: “It\u2019s ridiculous we\u2019re talking about it. I admire Lachie for having a crack, but it would be an extraordinary decision.”<\/p>\n

He also told The Nighlty<\/a>: \u201cI think it\u2019s a risk not worth taking. That\u2019s no criticism of anyone. It\u2019s just that he\u2019s played three quarters in seven weeks. He\u2019s had two soft tissue injuries in that time. So, I\u2019m just not sure how you can test him this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can get through all the training he likes, but how they\u2019re going to replicate the fatigue that comes on halfway through the third quarter in a grand final \u2026 I\u2019m just not sure you can prepare for that.”<\/p>\n

Cornes doubled down before Saturday’s game and said: \u201cHave they made the right call by picking him? I didn\u2019t think so, but perhaps the Lions know more than the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

Lachie Neale and Lions prove AFL world wrong<\/p>\n

To Cornes’ credit, he admitted he was wrong on Saturday. Even the decision to use Neale as the sub rather than a starter raised eyebrows, with Garry Lyon admitting he couldn’t understand the thinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if he comes on in the first 15 minutes because he has to, (Kai) Lohmann has pinged a hamstring and (Neale then) lasts a minute?” Lyon asked on Fox Footy. \u201cThat\u2019s my problem with him starting as a sub.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyon wasn’t alone, with AFL great Brad Johnson, Gerard Healy, David King and Leigh Montagna all skeptical of the tactics. Neale was captured in some touching moments with his wife and daughter after the game. He told Channel 7: \u201cAt half-time it didn\u2019t look like a result like that. I felt like a bit of a supporter in the first half.<\/p>\n

“It was probably the most nervous I\u2019ve ever been to come on in the third quarter, with the scores tied in a grand final and coming off limited prep. But it\u2019s a bit easier when everyone\u2019s tired and you\u2019re fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruce McAvaney has declared Brisbane used Lachie Neale “perfectly” in the AFL grand final, after tipping him pre-game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49418,3237,9121,3244,11288,43,675,112816,25875,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-173380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-afl-grand-final","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-bruce-mcavaney","tag-chris-fagan","tag-grand-final","tag-headlines","tag-kane-cornes","tag-lachie","tag-lachie-neale","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}