![\"Neale](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1d5ef64eaa20acdbc9a1660f87254a6ebf88d083.jpg\")
Camera IconNeale had no qualms with the reception he received from Fremantle fans. Credit: Daniel Pockett\/AFL Photos\/via Getty Images<\/p>\nHaving been hammered with boos by Fremantle fans throughout Saturday\u2019s grand final, former Docker Lachie Neale was greeted by a much warmer reception at Brisbane\u2019s premiership celebrations on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Just as they did after capturing flags in 2024 and 2025, the Lions began the day which preceded a long night of partying in front of thousands of fans at Brunswick Street Oval, the one-time home of Fitzroy before they merged with Brisbane Bears in 1996.<\/p>\n
Neale had confirmed in the minutes after the game it would be his last for the club ahead of an expected defection to Collingwood, but was lavished with just as many cheers as the rest of his premiership teammates by Brisbane\u2019s faithful.<\/p>\n
The two-time Brownlow medallist \u2014 whose marriage to wife Jules broke down in highly-publicised fashion on the eve of the season \u2014 only featured in the contest thanks to the AFL appeals board\u2019s stunning decision to overturn a one-week suspension for striking he was handed out of their preliminary final win over Hawthorn.<\/p>\n
After securing his third consecutive premiership, Neale said he did not \u201cgive a s… about\u201d how Fremantle\u2019s supporters had voiced their disapproval of his presence throughout the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to play for them as well, which probably added to it,\u201d Neale said.<\/p>\n
Camera IconNeale had no qualms with the reception he received from Fremantle fans. Credit: Daniel Pockett\/AFL Photos\/via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cI missed that set shot, which sucks, and that was the loudest it was all day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of the game. Honestly, it doesn\u2019t bother me.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Neale even took the time to respond to a cheeky comment left on his Instagram post by Jack Ginnivan, who he had dropped with a swinging arm to the stomach only a week prior.<\/p>\n
\u201cHope your tummy okay my guy x,\u201d Neale replied to the comment of a cherry emoji Ginnivan left on a photo of him holding the three premiership cups he has won with the Lions.<\/p>\n
Brisbane have had plenty of practice with premiership celebrations in recent years \u2014 but the nature of their dramatic comeback victory over the Dockers may have taken their enthusiasm to the next level.<\/p>\n
Coach Chris Fagan was the star of their party at the Pullman Hotel, with the 65-year-old appearing sheepish and nervous as he found himself perched the shoulders of their co-captain Harris Andrews.<\/p>\n
Star forward Charlie Cameron set himself up behind a set of DJ decks to spin a playlist which included plenty of his trademark country tracks.<\/p>\n
And some of Brisbane\u2019s younger brigade were all too happy to continue their party with the cup at The Osborne Rooftop Bar in South Yarra, where forward Cam Rayner performed a \u2018shoey\u2019 to the delight of an adoring crowd.<\/p>\n
Just about every Lion who rolled into their formal celebrations at 9.30am local time on Sunday did so with the aid of sunglasses, with even Fagan admitting his voice was nearly gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a pretty good celebration last night, which was the right thing to do,\u201d Fagan said.<\/p>\n
![\"Fagan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/2f29be9a8f554dafd8816b1888bb4090db34277e.jpg\")
Camera IconFagan said Brisbane had enjoyed their celebrations. Credit: Quinn Rooney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you for coming out this morning. It is a little bit on the fresh side for us soft people from Brisbane \u2013 you hardy people from Melbourne, you\u2019re a little bit different.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a great bunch of supporters with us down here, and you\u2019ve been with us for such a long, long time, many of you here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of Brisbane\u2019s three co-captains, Hugh McCluggage was given the first chance to hoist the 2026 premiership cup \u2014 but that also came with the responsibility of speaking at their function in Fitzroy North off what he estimated to be \u201ca couple of hours\u201d of sleep.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you very much for turning out for this and for the game,\u201d McCluggage said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, we can keep it going.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only 22 of Brisbane\u2019s 23 players were spotted as they paraded the premiership cup at Fitzroy\u2019s former home, with second-year midfielder Levi Ashcroft conspicuous by his absence.<\/p>\n
Rumours quickly began to circulate that the 19-year-old was particularly weary after a long night of celebrations, which his more senior teammate Ryan Lester was all too happy to confirm.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe young fella might have got a bit excited,\u201d Lester told the Sunday Footy Show.<\/p>\n
Brisbane\u2019s official celebrations in their home city have been set for Tuesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having been hammered with boos by Fremantle fans throughout Saturday\u2019s grand final, former Docker Lachie Neale was greeted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":907069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,3237,10124,588,85],"class_list":["post-907068","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-brisbane-lions","tag-fremantle-dockers","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907068","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=907068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/907069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}