Inside story of Lachie Neale’s query to Fremantle and his eventual commitment to Brisbane
Loose lips sink ships or in this particular instance plunge Lachie Neale into a week of damaging controversy, and it all could have been avoided. Here’s the inside story of the Lachie Neale drama.
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Three can keep a secret if two of them are dead.
The essence of Benjamin Franklin’s quotation forced Lachie Neale into a week of damaging controversy over his future that might so easily have been avoided if not for loose lips.
Neale on Thursday publicly committed to seeing out his contract with the Lions, adamant he would only be satisfied when he held up the premiership cup.
“I am committed and staying at the footy club,” he said.
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“I think one of the biggest things as well is I have unfinished business here, I want to be holding up a cup in the Lions guernsey. I am super excited to be here and I can’t wait to play again next year.”
It was the perfect news to reassure a skittish fan base after a torrid week of headlines that saw the Neales hounded by paparazzi and internet trolls.
But the irony of all the savage headlines about Neale supposedly manipulating his way out of another contract is that by the time the story broke, he was already on the way to deciding he wanted to stay.
Neale and wife Jules, due to have a baby daughter in the middle of October, had been worrying about a lack of support for them in the coming year given the Covid-stricken season they had just endured.
Instead of the regular flood of friends and family from Perth she was a prisoner in her adopted state with little support, separated from her dearest WA friends, and her husband often on the road.
They had decided to ask the Lions for more support in the post-season as the thought bubble of a move back to Fremantle became an open conversation.
Only they know how genuine the prospect of a trade might have been.
Their biggest fear was this: what if the WA border is shut for all of 2022 and Jules (unable to travel now given the late stage of her pregnancy) couldn’t see family for an entire year?
Yet unfortunately for Neale, a gentle and poorly-timed query to Fremantle about potential interest became public and all hell broke loose.
Had the Neales had a week to work through their issues with the Lions, four days of controversy could have been averted.
In his Monday afternoon meeting Neale actually told Brisbane he didn’t want a trade, but he was confused and needed time to solidify his position.
Brisbane wanted to believe him but knew how this story normally ends, as they braced for an inevitable trade request.
It never came, and depending on whose interpretation you trust, it was always unlikely to come.
Monday was chaos as the story broke and Brisbane feared the worst.
By Tuesday as both sets of parents were canvassed, as Jules was already saying in internal conversations she didn’t want to leave Brisbane, there was enough calm to actually make a definitive decision.
By Wednesday morning the Neales had decided to stay.
Neale’s exit interview came early on Thursday before a trip to the Gold Coast for scans on his shoulder that might require a post-season clean-up.
His message was simple to Chris Fagan and football boss Danny Daly: we are in for the long haul but need some help.
It might be in the form of club player development managers checking on Jules when Neale is on the road, or helping with meals when she is snowed under with a newborn.
You could imagine Daly and Fagan dancing around the room in joy when he left Thursday’s interview before they had to settle back into a full day of back-to-back exit interviews.
But had Fremantle not been alerted to the family dynamic this might in another time have been played out exactly the same way but with less recriminations and zero publicity.
To Neale’s credit he admitted the family’s discussions about a move home were real, even if it never got close to them acting on a move back west.
“Clearly as a lot of people know my wife is heavily pregnant,” Neale said.
“She is from WA, has a lot of family and support network in WA, but behind the scenes we had a couple of conversations about how that looked moving forward.
“With the Covid situation in the last couple of years it’s been really hard for her to see her family and friends, and I have got a great support network in Perth as well.
“We were half considering the prospect of getting back at some stage but after sitting down and talking through it with our family and friends and with the club and with my management team it became pretty clear this is where the best place for us is to be, firstly for my footy and secondly we believe we can get the support network around us moving forward, so it‘s challenging times with everyone with Covid and we are no different.”
Neale reveals huge toll of short-lived trade saga
Brisbane star Lachie Neale has committed to seeing out his contract with the Lions after securing more support for his family and his heavily pregnant wife Jules.
Neale told the club at his exit meeting on Thursday morning he had considered his position and was intent on remaining with the club for next two years.
While there were reports he was certain to be playing at Fremantle next year, Neale said three days of time to consider his future had solidified his view he could fulfil his contract.
“I am committed and staying at the footy club,” he said.
“I think one of the biggest things as well is I have unfinished business here, I want to be holding up a cup in the Lions guernsey. I am super excited to be here and I can’t wait to play again next year.
“It’s been a whirlwind few days and everything has gotten a bit out of hand but I came in and told Fages (Chris Fagan) and Danny Daly and Swanny (Greg Swann) that’s the case. So I am excited to be pushing on.
“Clearly as a lot of people know my wife is heavily pregnant. She is from WA, has a lot of family and support network in WA, but behind the scenes we had a couple of conversations about how that looked moving forward. With the Covid situation in the last couple of years it’s been really hard for her to see her family and friends, and I have got a great support network in Perth as well.
“We were half-considering the prospect of getting back at some stage but after sitting down and talking through it with our family and friends and with the club and with my management team it became pretty clear this is where the best place for us is to be, firstly for my footy and secondly we believe we can get the support network around us moving forward, so it’s challenging times with everyone with Covid and we are no different.”
While Geelong’s Tim Kelly stayed for an extra year and then returned to Perth, Neale indicated he was keen to see out his contract.
While he could reconsider his future after the 2023 season, it gives the Lions at least two more years with the brilliant ball-winner, Brownlow Medallist and All Australian.
“It probably got played out earlier than we thought and hadn’t put that amount of thought into it and it probably got blown out of proportion a bit and we have made that decision. We are really happy and can’t wait to get stuck into next year now.”
He said some of the commentary around his potential exit had been tough to endure as he was accused of trying to manipulate his contract.
“I has been a little bit rough, some of the stuff in the media and there will always be social media attached but we have one a great job in avoiding some of that stuff.
“It has taken its toll a bit, but I am super excited about what the future holds for us.
“We have got a beautiful baby coming in the next four weeks so we have got a lot to look forward to.”
NEALE SITUATION ‘BORDERING ON HORRIFIC’: DAD
Samantha Rogers
Robbie Neale, the father of Lachie Neale, has opened up about the “horrific” reaction to news the Brownlow medallist was considering a move back to Perth.
Reports emerged on Sunday the Brisbane star is contemplating a move back to the Fremantle Dockers, as he and wife Jules – who are expecting their first child – are weighing up where to raise their family.
The 28-year-old spoke to the Lions the next day, with the club releasing a statement confirming the two-time All-Australian had informed them of his situation but was yet to request a trade.
In the days following, Robbie said his son and daughter-in-law have had paparazzi camped outside their Brisbane home and copped abuse on social media.
“They need a bit of support. It’s been bordering on horrific,” Robbie Neale told ABC radio in South Australia.
“They’ve got paparazzi following them around and camped outside the house. This is not how it should have been.
“It should have been a nice quiet conversation with Brisbane and then through his management group to make the right decision and if a request was to come, fair enough, then it becomes a headline. It’s far from that at this stage.”
Robbie revealed the couple, who are expecting a baby girl, have reportedly been the targets of abuse on social media, including Instagram – where Jules has more than 17,000 followers.
“We’ll go into damage control and try to take some stress off her and tell her not to worry about social media because that is just a shocking platform,” he said.
“It does disappoint me how people are so strong in their opinions. But that’s people we don’t know. So what’s important to them is family and friends at the moment.”
Fremantle chief executive Simon Garlick revealed Fremantle had not yet spoken to the former Docker.
“I think it’s really important to note that no request to trade has been made just yet,” Garlick told Sportday WA.
“There’s been reports over the last couple of days that Lachie and his wife are currently considering some really important decisions regarding their future. That’s something that they’ve got to work through themselves.
“With that in mind and with due respect to all parties in mind, we’re loathe to make any detailed comment at this point in relation to that.”
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Originally published as Inside story of Lachie Neale’s query to Fremantle and his eventual commitment to Brisbane
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