{"id":445102,"date":"2026-01-29T12:13:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/445102\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T12:13:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T12:13:10","slug":"chris-fagan-backs-brisbane-lions-culture-test-after-lachie-neale-public-marriage-breakdown-with-wife-jules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/445102\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Fagan backs Brisbane Lions culture test after Lachie Neale public marriage breakdown with wife Jules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan says how the club responded to the attention on Lachie Neale\u2019s public marriage breakdown was a \u201ctest of the culture\u201d at the Lions, but insists there \u201chasn\u2019t been a ripple\u201d since pre-season training recommenced.<\/p>\n

Seeking a third straight premiership, Neale earlier this month returned to pre-season training with Brisbane teammates after fronting the media to confirm a separation from wife Jules<\/a> and his decision to step down as Brisbane co-captain.<\/p>\n

Jules moved back to Perth with the couple\u2019s two children to be closer to her family and friends.<\/p>\n

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In an exclusive interview with <\/a>Herald Sun<\/a> chief football reporter \u2014 and Fox Footy First Crack host \u2014 Jay Clark, Fagan backed the club\u2019s culture to deal with the spotlight of Neale\u2019s personal issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is accountability and I think that is what has happened in this instance. Lachie spoke publicly and that is not easy,\u201d Fagan told CODE Sports.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe players saw that. The players\u2019 partners saw that and to be honest, since we have been back at training there hasn\u2019t been a ripple in the place.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraining has been a high standard. There has been a high level of enjoyment and energy around the place and everybody is just getting on with it.<\/p>\n

Harris Andrews, Chris Fagan and Lachie Neale of the Lions raise the Premiership Cup. Picture: Darrian Traynor\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me I don\u2019t think it is a question mark on our culture. I just think it is a test of the culture in how you respond.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fagan said the Lions had been \u201cmassive on the players being good people first and foremost\u201d as that is \u201cwhat leads to success\u201d, but added the club wants to support Neale, Jules and the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really lucky in that we have fantastic people here and you can see it in the way they play together and interact and engage in the community together,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I know is that from where we were eight or nine years ago to where we are now it is just a joy to come to work every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate interview, Fagan told <\/a>AFL Media<\/a> the Lions\u2019 captaincy and leadership structure would be confirmed in \u201cmid to late February\u201d.<\/p>\n

Neale leaves Lions leadership group | 06:47<\/p>\n

Neale, a dual premiership player, six-time club best and fairest and four-time All-Australian, is off-contract at season\u2019s end and eligible to move clubs as a free agent, sparking speculation he could return to later this year.<\/p>\n

Fagan earlier this month said his club was \u201cnot going to hold anyone to ransom\u201d<\/a>, insisting if Neale wanted to exercise his free agency rights for family reasons, the dual Brownlow Medallist would leave the Lions \u201cwith our blessing\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan says how the club responded to the attention on Lachie Neale\u2019s public marriage…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,689,55,639,3423,3237,100140,3244,170319,51342,2105,40742,19125,43039,25875,212772,647,677,222600,46,11330,25564,230939,14444,85,660,3439],"class_list":["post-445102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-waterworth","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-chief-football-reporter","tag-chris-fagan","tag-dual-premiership-player","tag-family-reasons","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-harris-andrews","tag-jay-clark","tag-jules","tag-lachie-neale","tag-leadership-structure","tag-melbourne","tag-oceania","tag-origin-match","tag-perth","tag-pre-season-training","tag-premiership-cup","tag-public-marriage-breakdown","tag-question-mark","tag-sports","tag-victoria","tag-western-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445102","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=445102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}