Brisbane great Simon Black says Lachie Neale speculation has eases grand final pressure on Lions

Lions great Simon Black says the intense speculation about whether Lachie Neale will play in Saturday’s AFL grand final has allowed the star midfielder’s Brisbane teammates to “fly under the radar” rather than be burdened by the pressure of trying to win a third successive premiership.

Black was a key member of the Brisbane teams that won grand finals in 2001, 2002 and 2003.

The current crop of Lions will emulate that feat if they beat Fremantle in this weekend’s decider at the MCG after winning flags last year and in 2024.

And if they can, Black will have the privilege of presenting the premiership cup to Brisbane coach Chris Fagan and co-captains Harris Andrews, Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage.

“The Lions have been such a big part of my life for such a long time, and to walk out there on to the MCG, I’ll have goosebumps – no question about that.

“I’m immensely proud of the boys and hoping they bring it home on Saturday.

“They’re such a great bunch of lads. I’ve always admired how they’ve all kept their feet on the ground, and they are beautifully coached by ‘Fages’.”

Much of the build-up this week has been centred around whether Neale will play after being handed a one-match ban for striking Hawthorn’s Jack Ginnivan in Brisbane’s preliminary final win last Saturday.

The Lions failed to have the ban overturned by the AFL Tribunal on Tuesday night, leading to them making a last-ditch plea to the AFL Appeals Board on Thursday night.

“I think it probably is a good thing for other players to be able to fly under the radar,” Black said.

The 2002 Brownlow Medal winner also said that Lions players had been through a similar experience last year when grand final week was dominated by speculation about whether Neale would recover from a calf injury to play in the decider.

Neale ended up playing in the match, which Brisbane won by 47 points over Geelong.

“The players have learned to be fully focused with a bit going on around Lachie, and they’ve done that well to this point,” Black said.

“They won some big games, big finals last year without him, and I guess this is where experience is a beautiful thing.