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 The dual Brownlow medallist had injured his right calf in Brisbane\u2019s 38-point qualifying final loss to Geelong three weeks earlier \u2014 a feared-serious ailment that was initially expected to cost him his finals campaign. <\/p>\n Neale, of course, made a stunning recovery to play in the 2025 decider, coming on as the substitute after half-time and playing a starring role. <\/p>\n In Run Towards the Fire, Fox Footy\u2019s grand final recall documentary of the back-to-back premiers\u2019 47-point premiership win over Geelong, Fagan reflected on Neale\u2019s shock inclusion against the Cats after racing to prove his fitness. <\/p>\n \u201cI remember Chris Scott stayed at the hotel we stayed at, and I saw him in the lift the next morning \u2014 I walked in and there he was standing there, the bloke I coached against the night before,\u201d began Fagan this pre-season. <\/p>\n \u201cHe goes \u2018How\u2019s Lachie?\u2019 and I said \u2018Oh, I think he\u2019s pretty much done for the year, mate\u2019. <\/p>\n \u201cI feel a bit awkward about that now because he actually played in the grand final \u2014 but I honestly believed that (Neale was done for the year); that\u2019s what we all thought was going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Steven May announced AFL retirement | 00:40<\/p>\n In just 44 per cent game time, Neale went nuts for 17 disposals, seven score involvements, seven clearances and a crowd-lifting goal on the eve of three-quarter-time. <\/p>\n Neale\u2019s adrenaline-inducing running major, which came with under a minute remaining in the premiership quarter, put the Lions up 19 points at a pivotal point in the game. <\/p>\n It was a moment described by teammates as the \u201cturning point\u201d for the Lions, who\u2019d gained the ascendancy over the Cats but were about to really put the foot down. <\/p>\n \u201cI saw the Geelong player miss Bailey Smith with the handball, and I actually saw \u2018Zorks\u2019 out of the corner of my eye take off, and thought he was going to get a hold of the footy, or at least impact,\u201d a reminiscing Neale explained. <\/p>\n \u201cI was waving my arms, as I do, calling for the ball. \u2018Zorks\u2019 did a nice little step \u2014 and he doesn\u2019t handball much, \u2018Zork\u2019, but that one hit me in a great spot. <\/p>\n \u201cGave it a bit with the celebration \u2014 I don\u2019t usually celebrate \u2014 (but) I\u2019ll remember that moment forever.\u201d<\/p>\n Run Towards the Fire premieres on Fox Footy on Tuesday, March 3 at 7.30pm AEDT, immediately following AFL 360. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There might be a slight awkward tension when mastermind coaches Chris Fagan and Chris Scott next have a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514686,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,257419,42255,3237,3244,12923,257420,19099,257423,257421,12099,11288,257422,3231,25875,2504,257418,31712,257424,85549,10402,1820,85,8018],"class_list":{"0":"post-514685","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-awkward-tension","14":"tag-bailey-smith","15":"tag-brisbane-lions","16":"tag-chris-fagan","17":"tag-chris-scott","18":"tag-elevator-conversation","19":"tag-finals-campaign","20":"tag-fire-documentary","21":"tag-footy-grand-final","22":"tag-game-time","23":"tag-grand-final","24":"tag-grand-final-recall","25":"tag-jack-jovanovski","26":"tag-lachie-neale","27":"tag-lifts-lid","28":"tag-player-miss","29":"tag-premiership-quarter","30":"tag-private-conversation","31":"tag-qualifying-final-loss","32":"tag-rival-coach","33":"tag-score-involvements","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-steven-may"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514685","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=514685"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514685\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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