![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Speaking to Fox Footy after side\u2019s thrilling win over Geelong on Thursday night, Neale was adamant he was yet to make a final decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve just got to weigh everything\u2026 success, finance, everything that goes along with playing footy. I\u2019m 33 \u2013 probably don\u2019t have that long left, so yeah, just weighing it all up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI honestly don\u2019t know what I\u2019m going to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 100% the truth \u2013 I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019ll decide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neale said while contract talk was happening, he remained focused on Brisbane and their push for a three-peat.<\/p>\n
Play halted as Neale leaves for HIA | 00:37<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be 33 and feel a little bit wanted,\u201d he started.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably doesn\u2019t happen that often.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love my football – I love playing for this footy club. What will be will work itself out over the next sort of six to eight weeks in the back half of the year. I\u2019ll leave Tommy Petroro (his manager) to deal with the most of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m honest, have to go to a couple of meetings (with other clubs) and delve into it a little bit, but it\u2019s more talking about the future and more so post-footy as well. I have those chats with Brisbane too and have caught up with Dom (Ambrogio) and Danny (Daly) a couple of times as well \u2013 it\u2019s not just other clubs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a difficult situation that I\u2019m working through \u2026 Yeah, work out what the best result is in due time.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I love playing for this club \u2013 I\u2019m all in at the moment to try and win a third premiership and who knows? I might be back next year as well.<\/p>\n
Lyon plays down Neale meeting | 00:51<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously my kids, it\u2019s well-documented are in Perth. I\u2019ve got my family \u2013 Dad\u2019s living in Hamilton at the moment. Gets back to Robe on the weekends. If you\u2019ve been there it\u2019s a beautiful place in South Australia. Then Mum and my stepdad are on a farm right on the border of South Australia and Victoria.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s sort of weighing up whether to be closer to them, closer to the kids. Whether I stay in Brisbane and make that work as well \u2013 that\u2019s definitely a chance. Like I said love playing here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Collingwood are considered frontrunners to secure the dual premiership Lion should a Victoria move eventuate, while St Kilda and Essendon have joined the race since the initial interest from Adelaide and West Coast \u2014 while Brisbane still aren\u2019t to be forgotten.<\/p>\n
AFL great Jason Dunstall said as long as Neale and fellow out-of-contract star Zac Bailey were putting their best foot forward at the Lions, the speculation shouldn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as both Lachie and Zac commit to the club, commit to the training, commit to playing and they are playing their best footy, why can we not be mature and say \u2018yeah you\u2019ve got to have these discussions\u2019. Everyone\u2019s got a future to look after,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes it matter if players and their managers are talking to other clubs? You have to at some stage?\u201d<\/p>\n
Is 2026 the Lions last dance? | 04:15<\/p>\n
Lions great Michael Voss described the Neale meetings with rival clubs as \u201cthe norm\u201d in AFL nowadays.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a normal part of the industry now, I think we have to accept there is some level of that that is happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo unless there is a restriction of time that\u2019s put in place, then these players you can talk to \u2013 and why wouldn\u2019t you want to add someone of his calibre to your football club?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019d be silly to not at least have the discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Voss said there\u2019s one crucial factor that could sway Neale\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll always stay for premierships,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
‘Freo shouldn’t rush Neale decision’ | 01:01<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a rare find \u2013 to find a special group of players who are playing together \u2026 jeez it would be hard to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dunstall believes Neale will take all the time he needs on what could be his last AFL deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got to make the most of it. This next contract is it for him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got some big decisions to make.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dual Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale says he \u201chonestly doesn\u2019t know\u201d where he\u2019ll end up next year as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-774501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774501","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=774501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}