Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan admits he took a punt by naming Lachie Neale as the sub ahead of their stunning win over Geelong in Saturday’s grand final.<\/p>\n
Neale thought his season was over after injuring his calf in the Lions’ qualifying final loss to the Cats earlier this month.<\/p>\n
But 22 days later, the two-time Brownlow medallist was holding a second premiership cup aloft with Lions co-captain Harris Andrews.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old had an instant impact when he was subbed into the match for teenager Sam Marshall at the start of the third quarter at the MCG.<\/p>\n
Neale finished with 17 disposals, seven clearances and one famous goal in a second half that will go down in grand final folklore.<\/p>\n
“I was lying in bed last night thinking, ‘I’m either going to look like a total idiot or a total genius,'” Fagan said after the Lions’ 47-point win.<\/p>\n
“If we had lost, and he’d (Neale) only played a half, we’d probably be bemoaning the fact we went about it that way.<\/p>\n
“The bottom line was Lachie was fit to play. But how much game time could he play?<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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Lachie Neale produced an inspired performance when he came on as the Lions’ sub. (Getty Images\/AFL Photos: Robert Cianflone)<\/p>\n
Neale said he was the “most nervous” he had ever been in his career before coming on for the Lions.<\/p>\n
Having been the sub in Fremantle’s 2013 grand final loss, Neale had not performed that role since round one in 2014.<\/p>\n
“I haven’t done it (play as a substitute) in about 11 years, so I was pretty nervous knowing I was coming on to be the sub in the third,” Neale said.<\/p>\n
“Probably the most nervous I’ve ever been just sitting there waiting and knowing if the game was in the balance, they were going to sub me on.”<\/p>\n
The decision to play Neale, coming in for injured teammate Jarrod Berry, was deemed a major risk because his initial injury assessment had him sidelined for six weeks.<\/p>\n
Neale was able to tell Fagan he was right to go at Thursday’s main training session, but Berry selflessly made the call to pull out of contention for the grand final.<\/p>\n