the Lions\u2019 stunning 76-point loss to Carlton at Marvel Stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\nThe Magpies are seen as considerable favourites for the dual premiership Lion at season\u2019s end, with West Coast and Adelaide also in the mix.<\/p>\n
Speaking on Fox Footy\u2019s On The Couch on Monday night, Lewis said the timing of Neale\u2019s meeting with Collingwood was unfortunate.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven if it was permitted or not, I just thought it was really inappropriate to be doing that the day before a game,\u201d Lewis told On The Couch.<\/p>\n
Lachie Neale of the Lions. Picture: Albert Perez\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cHe might be the player \u2013 and he seems like he\u2019s the player \u2013 that\u2019s able to do other things but then also be able to perform on gameday, which is fantastic. But if I\u2019m his teammate and I\u2019m thinking: \u2018Geez we are doing absolutely everything to get ourselves back in the season.\u2019 I know he\u2019s a big performer, but he\u2019s checking out opposition facilities the day before (the Lions play at Marvel Stadium) \u2013 and then they come out and perform like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought it was ill-timed, it was tone-deaf and it was inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown, who seriously contemplated a move to Collingwood midway through his brilliant career, said Neale, ideally, should\u2019ve met with the Magpies post-match.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t impact me as a supporter \u2013 and you can\u2019t question Lachie Neale\u2019s commitment to the club this year, he\u2019d probably be leading the best and fairest. But you\u2019ve got to put yourself in these situations,\u201d Brown told On The Couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s you as the player going through it \u2013 and you might be able to compartmentalise \u2013 but who else does it impact? \u2018My teammates and my coaches.\u2019 If it impacts any one of those guys by even one per cent, well it\u2019s had an impact on the team.<\/p>\n
Blues stun the Lions | 02:36<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you\u2019re going for three flags or not, at the end of the day this is an individual season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just thinking, could you do it afterwards? Do it the day after.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I met Collingwood after a game. They asked: \u2018Do you want to meet before the game?\u2019 And I was (hesitant) \u2026 Even my mindset was, no, I wouldn\u2019t be comfortable if my teammates knew about this before the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brown added: \u201cAs my old coach Leigh Matthews would say, \u2018perception is reality\u2019 \u2013 and it\u2019s so true. Just that little bit of perception that you\u2019re not quite on or locked in, it becomes reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley, who in 2016 famously met with then-off-contract Bulldog Lin Jong at Magpies HQ, said it\u2019d be an uncomfortable situation for all parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been a coach and we\u2019ve hosted players \u2026 That (the Jong meeting) was very public at the time,\u201d Buckley told On The Couch. \u201cThat was attempted to be done in the evening so that it was under the cover of darkness.<\/p>\n
Lachie Neale of the Brisbane Lions in action against Carlton. Picture: Mark StewartSource: News Corp Australia<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the end, we can put our personal beliefs and overlay this \u2013 and obviously the loss (to Carlton) a day later looks and reflects poorly on it and we frown on it even more. If it had come to light and the Lions had gone ahead and won, we would view this slightly differently. But that\u2019s the reality of the world we\u2019re living in.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayers are a little bit more forward with what they are doing now, but I do agree: What are you thinking as a teammate when you\u2019re a month out from your finals series? That\u2019s really what you\u2019ve got to be considering, that in the worst-case scenario and this gets out and it\u2019s out of control, where does it go?<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly Lachie Neale wouldn\u2019t be comfortable with it, neither would Collingwood or Brisbane for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neale spoke openly with Fox Footy<\/a> after Brisbane\u2019s Round 17 win over Geelong at GMHBA Stadium, saying he \u201chonestly doesn\u2019t know\u201d where he\u2019ll end up playing in 2027.<\/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 Neale said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 100% the truth \u2013 I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019ll decide.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be 33 and feel a little bit wanted \u2026 (that) probably doesn\u2019t happen that often.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis says Lachie Neale\u2019s meeting with Collingwood the day before Brisbane\u2019s clash with Carlton…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842647,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-842646","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\/842646","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=842646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842646\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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