Nathan Buckley‘s choice words for a fellow Brownlow medallist

AFL legend Nathan Buckley took aim at former Brownlow Medal winner Lachie Neale in a scathing takedown of his current form.

Lion Lachie Neale is held up by Fremantle’s Hayden Young during their clash at Optus Stadium, on August 06, 2023, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

Nathan Buckley has long been known as a straight shooter and he didn’t miss his target during commentary on Sunday.

At halftime of lowly Fremantle’s home clash with premiership contender Brisbane, Buckley set his sights on Lions co-captain Lachie Neale.

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In a lowscoring affair, the underdog Dockers kicked five goals to three to take a surprise 11-point lead into the main break.

Buckley, who won a Brownlow Medal with Collingwood back in 2003, was keen to highlight the match-up of Neale and 22-year-old Fremantle defender Hayden Young.

“I think the Fremantle midfielders have been on top from the start,” Buckley said on Fox Footy.

Lion Lachie Neale is held up by Fremantle’s Hayden Young during their clash at Optus Stadium, on August 06, 2023, in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

“Most of their midfielders have got big numbers compared to the Lions.

“But it’s the Young-Neale match-up. You see here that Young runs off to try and win this ball ... Lachie Neale has his hands on his hips.

“This is not what we’ve known of Lachie Neale, but he’s just not working as hard as we know of him.”

In a sport that puts a massive emphasis on effort, accusing a player of failing to work hard is one of the more damning assessments a commentator can make.

Buckley’s shot at Neale comes a week after the Brisbane star was well beaten in his match-up with Touk Miller in the Lions’ upset loss to the Gold Coast Suns.

Suns skipper Touk Miller (left) won his match-up with Neale in last week’s upset victory over the Lions. (Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Miller, who was ultimately suspended for an incident with Dayne Zorko, took out the Marcus Ashcroft Medal for best on ground in his clash with Neale, who won his own Brownlow Medal in 2020.

“I respect Lachie as a player,” Miller said after that win. “He’s a Brownlow medallist and plays a really quality brand of football.

“But for me it was about bringing my weapons to the party.”

Leading into Sunday’s clash against the Lions, Freo defender Luke Ryan revealed that Neale should expect similar treatment at Optus Stadium.

Seriously what is wrong with Lachie Neale???

He’s playing like a stinking pile of poo. He’s been responsible for so many bad fumbles and is not chasing in defence.

I love the guy but FFS lift!!!

— Maddison Jordan (@MaddisonJ_1944) August 6, 2023

“I’m not sure who will get the job, but it’s going to be a team approach. You can’t just let (Neale) run around free,” Ryan said.

‘I think it’ll be a team job on him. I don’t know if it will be one person. It’s going to be a team focus. He’s going to be our target player I’m guessing.

“You can’t just let the good players run around free. You’ve got to watch him.”

Neale was playing his 240th game on Sunday, compared to Young’s 54th.

While Brisbane ultimately snuck home with a three-point win, Young took the spoils on the day, finishing with 29 disposals and 10 tackles.

Neale lifted his workrate in the final term to tally 25 disposals, six marks and six tackles.

A week after Young pulled off another solid effort against Patrick Dangerfield in Fremantle’s huge upset of the Cats in Geelong, Buckley was full of praise for the youngster.

The Dockers paid close attention to Neale (left) throughout the game. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

“Young’s role on (Neale) is definitely not a tag. It’s a starting point at stoppage,” he said.

“Then Young has been getting after the ball and has been doing that extremely well to have the 15 touches (at halftime) and the impact that he has on the game.

“Young is the one working harder than any other.

“He’s doing it all. He’s had an exceptional first half.”

Neale himself conceded in a post-match interview that he had been taken by surprise in last week’s Q Clash and felt better prepared today, despite a poor start.

“I watched a fair bit of (Young) on “Danger” last week,” he said. “I didn’t expect Touk to come to me last week so I learned from that and did my homework.

“I thought it might be (James) Aish or Young. Youngy is a quality player.

“He’s a lot stronger than I thought and I learned a fair bit from that first quarter.

“I was pretty poor and felt like I built into that game and my last quarter was probably my best.”

Originally published as Nathan Buckley‘s choice words for a fellow Brownlow medallist