“I do it for them,” he says.

“When I started my career, I just wanted to be the best at what I do – to be the best player ever. That’s what drove me.

“But as I’ve gotten older, my focus has shifted, and it’s more about making those around me – my family (wife, Jules, and daughter, Piper, 2) and my team – proud.

“I still want to be as good as I can be, because that helps the team’s success, but to support my family and make them proud – that’s what’s on my mind when I’m playing. And when Piper is all grown up, I want her to be proud of her old man who used to play on the field.”

The 16th player to become a dual Brownlow medallist, Neale, 30, made a heartfelt speech at the Brownlow Awards in September 2023, calling Jules his “rock”.

“I did not expect this, and to be among the names of those who have won two is unbelievable,” he said, conceding that fatherhood had changed his approach to the game.

“It’s given me great perspective, especially when we lose. I’m usually a bit grumpy, but as soon as I walk through the door and see Piper smiling and laughing, it just brings me back to the moment, and it wipes the let down of a bad game away.

“Suddenly it doesn’t seem to matter so much.”

And although the dual medal status is something he continues to celebrate, Neale can’t get the close loss of last September out of his mind.

“I’d give both of the Brownlows back to win that final,” he said in the wake of the 2023 premiership game.

The Brisbane Lions missed out on the title by four points to the Collingwood Magpies, in a nailbiting finish.

With 90 seconds to go, the Lions scored a goal to take them within reach of the title, in front of 100,024 spectators at the MCG. But the Magpies held on, winning 90-86.

“That one still stings,” Neale says.

“But you gotta take the good with the bad, and family time always cheers me up, no matter what.”

Footy has been a constant passion for Neale, whose country upbringing began in the small South Australian town of Naracoorte, 300km southeast of Adelaide.

It was here, aged 10, that Neale played for local side, Kybybolite. He played for that club until receiving a scholarship to attend St Peter’s College in Adelaide, where he won the Opie Medal (best AFL player) in his final year.

In 2011, he was drafted to Fremantle, playing there (and winning awards) until he caught the eye of Brisbane Lions coach, Chris Fagan.

He was traded in October 2018 to Brisbane – a move that proved fruitful for his career progression.

In 2020, he won his first Brownlow after polling 31 votes, including best-on-ground over 10 matches. But his 2020 season success didn’t stop there – he received a second All-Australian selection and won a second Merrett-Murray Medal (Lions club champion), the Leigh Matthews Trophy (AFL’s most valuable player), and more. And this was just the start of a string of accolades for the boy from the country.

2022 was another season of success for Neale, who scored a third All-Australian blazer and a third Merrett-Murray Medal (both first won in 2019), and placed second in the Brownlow, missing out on first place by one vote. He also signed a three-year contract extension with the Lions, until the end of the 2026 season.

On March 1, 2023, Neale was named co-captain of the Lions alongside Harris Andrews, and later that year secured his second Brownlow Medal.

While the move across the country was undoubtedly the right one for his profession, Neale says he is still humbled by his wife’s sacrifice to leave Perth – her home full of family, friends, and her own career.

“We made a massive change to our lives coming over here,” he says.

“I wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t support that. But it’s paying dividends.

“(Jules) had to give up her career, her dream, and sell the hair salon she owned in Perth. I’ll never lose sight of that and the fact she did that for me.

“I’ll never take what she did for granted.”

With Brisbane their home for now, the pair say family is their top priority, and openly commit to not letting Neale’s sports-star status interfere with what matters most: family.

“I definitely get recognised a lot more now than I did at the start of my career, especially in Brisbane,” Neale says.

“I feel like AFL has grown up a lot in this city, and I love being able to engage with footy fans and the kids who love it. Hopefully they see me as a great role model, but it’s family support that matters most.

“Family means the world to me, not just Jules and Piper, but our parents and siblings. We are all very close, and we’re so lucky to have found an amazing friendship group.

“Being able to balance my lifestyle can be tricky, but I make every effort to ensure our family time is uninterrupted. We don’t let anything distract us from that time together.”

The couple, who haven’t shared much about their fertility journey previously, opened up about the struggles they experienced trying to conceive.

“There’s so many in the same position, but no one really talks about it much,” Jules says.

“I talk about it now because we’re out of it, but it was really hard in the moment. When you’re going through it, it’s all you can think about. It consumes you. Changes your behaviour. Talking now feels easier, cause she (Piper) is here, and it’s less scary.

“We tried for 2½ years. If we got to three and I hadn’t fallen pregnant, we said we’d do IVF. I was on heavy medication, having regular scans, blood tests, trigger hormone shots – everything you do before IVF. There were surgeries for my endometriosis and a lot in the lead up to figure out what was wrong.

“We signed up to IVF, attended the education day, went and picked it up, and waited for my period to come. But it didn’t.

“I was sitting on the couch with Lachie, and I just felt so mad. I kept telling him I was in such a bad mood, and he looked at me and says, ‘why? You’re probably pregnant’.

“He’s always so positive, always trying to make light out of a situation. So, I went to the bathroom and got a test; I had one left in the house. I’d done so many and the negative line coming up again and again is just so soul crushing. The last appointment I’d had at my doctors they’d given me one, so I thought, ‘what the hell, I’ll just do it’.

“I immediately walked downstairs to put it in the bin, because it had always said no before. I didn’t expect any difference this time, but it was. It still gives me butterflies.

“Piper is a dream come true. I dreamt and I hoped and I wished for her for almost three years. I was so ready to become a mum.”

Three years after tying the knot in 2018, Jules shared the news of her daughter’s birth at the Brisbane Mater Mothers’ Hospital to Instagram in September 2021 with a heartfelt message about their bundle of joy: “Piper Rose Neale … and just like that all the years of dreaming, wishing, longing don’t seem to matter because here you are in my arms after all … I won’t take a second of you for granted my little P … mama loves you beyond words.”

When asked whether expanding their family is something they are hoping for, Neale says it is a question they have had to get used to pretty quickly.

“I’ve learnt not to get offended by that question when people ask it, because it doesn’t come from a bad place,” he says.

“It’s just the next step in life, so I just try and think about it like that. People are interested, and that’s OK. I’m not upset anymore.

“We’re just so happy that we have P, we’re so grateful, and so full of love that if we don’t have more we’ll be so happy with our little family.

“I guess you never know what could happen though.”

Jules is equally as philosophical, adding: “She’s all I’ve ever wanted so if she’s it, we’ll take that win.”