{"id":508753,"date":"2026-02-28T02:05:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T02:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508753\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T02:05:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T02:05:09","slug":"fox-footy-afl-daily-lachie-neale-return-to-fremantle-dockers-justin-longmuir-comments-sam-darcy-injury-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/508753\/","title":{"rendered":"Fox Footy AFL Daily, Lachie Neale return to Fremantle Dockers, Justin Longmuir comments, Sam Darcy injury, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

A senior coach has left the door ajar to the idea of his club luring back a former superstar. <\/p>\n

Plus, Sam Darcy\u2019s mystery \u201cgeneral soreness\u201d has been clarified. <\/p>\n

Watch the 2026 AFL AAMI Community Series LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n

Fremantle hasn\u2019t ruled out attempting to lure back Lachie Neale. <\/p>\n

Dual Brownlow medallist Neale comes out of contract at Brisbane this year, and it\u2019s not out of the realms of possibility to think he might consider a return to the place he started his career and played 135 games. <\/p>\n

And Dockers coach Justin Longmuir has left the door open to a Fremantle reunion for the West Australian native. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s something we\u2019ll have to look at throughout the year,\u201d Longmuir told Nine News Perth of the prospect. <\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say I wouldn\u2019t entertain it, but I don\u2019t really see it (list management) as my job, especially at this time of year. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a contracted player at another club, and I haven\u2019t really put any time into thinking about 2027, let alone player personnel in 2027 from other clubs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neale, 32, stood down from Brisbane\u2019s co-captaincy after back-to-back years leading the Lions to premierships, following a public marriage collapse with wife Jules. <\/p>\n

Lions coach Chris Fagan has already said this off-season that he and the club wouldn\u2019t begrudge Neale if he exercised his free agency rights at the end of this season. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope he stays and plays with us, but if he chooses to move back to Perth because he needs to be closer to his children, then he\u2019ll do that with our blessing,\u201d Fagan said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to hold anyone to ransom. We\u2019ll just go along with the flow on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE:<\/p>\n

\u2018ARE YOU JOKING ME?\u2019: How Dees, Tigers salvaged something from pre-season chaos<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018GOOD AS I\u2019VE SEEN HIM PLAY\u2019: Dogs star\u2019s statement; Hawk in hot water as duo KO\u2019d<\/a><\/p>\n

FULL RECAP: Weather chaos rocks AFL clash as top 10 draftee hurt, \u2018evolved\u2019 Dees stun<\/a><\/p>\n

Adrian pays full credit to the Bulldogs | 02:17<\/p>\n

MYSTERY DARCY INJURIES REVEALED<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been revealed that prodigious Western Bulldogs forward Sam Darcy has been dealing with hip and groin soreness since AFL Origin.<\/p>\n

It comes days after the Bulldogs mysteriously put Darcy\u2019s absence from Friday\u2019s practice match hitout against Hawthorn down to \u201cgeneral soreness\u201d. <\/p>\n

According to Herald Sun and Fox Footy reporter Jay Clark<\/a>, the ascending 22-year-old received a knock to his back during the Western Australia vs. Victoria clash on February 14, which has left him with \u201clingering soreness\u201d in the hip and groin. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe trained earlier today (on Friday), had a controlled session,\u201d Dogs assistant Jarryn Geary told media after the club\u2019s Community Series hitout against Hawthorn. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be assessed on Wednesday (when) we have our main training session, he\u2019ll get through that hopefully, then we\u2019ll see how he goes next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark added \u201cit remains a tight call\u201d, with Bulldogs\u2019 sports medicine boss Chris Bell telling the masthead: \u201cHe did an hour-long training session (on Friday), and we will need to see how he pulls up before we can confirm his availability next week.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, a Bulldog who certainly won\u2019t play against the Lions is young midfielder Ryley Sanders, after he was concussed on Friday night. <\/p>\n

The Dogs are seven days out from their Opening Round clash with back-to-back reigning premiers Brisbane at The Gabba.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A senior coach has left the door ajar to the idea of his club luring back a former…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":508754,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[24777,254759,638,64,63,689,55,255172,639,3237,3244,26517,10124,2105,14377,255169,254757,19125,43039,10400,25875,24309,677,46,255170,255173,12105,22401,85,255168,5338,53149,255171,3439,698],"class_list":["post-508753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-aami-community","tag-adrian-hickmott","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australian-native","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-chris-fagan","tag-daniel-carson","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-groin-soreness","tag-hour-long-training-session","tag-jarryn-geary","tag-jay-clark","tag-jules","tag-justin-longmuir","tag-lachie-neale","tag-list-management","tag-oceania","tag-perth","tag-player-personnel","tag-robert-chris-christopher-bell","tag-sam-darcy","tag-senior-coach","tag-sports","tag-sports-medicine-boss","tag-the-gabba","tag-training-session","tag-victoria-clash","tag-western-australia","tag-western-bulldogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508753","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=508753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/508753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/508754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=508753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=508753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=508753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}