Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says everyone at the Lions was cool with Lachie Neale’s blunt assessment of loss to Carlton

Lachie Neale didn’t hold back talking about the efforts in the opening round loss to Brisbane and did so with the blessing of his coach.

Lions co-captain Lachie Neale has been sidelined with a hamstring strain. Picture: Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has called on the Lions to again prove they aren’t a one-man team in the absence of Lachie Neale and declared “everyone at the club was cool” with the Brownlow medallist’s honest and scathing assessment of the opening round loss to Carlton.

Neale won’t travel to Western Australia for Sunday’s clash against Fremantle at Optus Stadium due to a “lower-grade” hamstring strain he suffered in last Friday night’s loss to the Blues.

“Scans showed a little bit of damage to his hamstring, not anything major,” Fagan said.

“We’ve made the conservative call, which I think is the right call.”

Neale was brutal on Tuesday in comments about the Lions’ one-point loss to the Blues, his team giving up a 46-point lead in the second quarter and losing the first game at the Gabba since August 2022.

The dual Brownlow medal winner used the words “selfish” and “lazy” to describe some of the player’s efforts.

“(There was) a little bit of selfishness, we weren’t cohesive on defence, probably thought scoreboard was ticking along all right, so maybe that intensity dropped away a little bit … we probably chose some easy options,” Neale said

“(We) didn’t dig in and basically, you’re sh--ting on your teammates.”

Lachie Neale will miss the Lions’ clash against Fremantle. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Fagan agreed with the assessment and was adamant they were all part of the conversations they had internally and there was no ill-feeling towards Neale for airing them publicly.

“All Lachie did the other day was report that back. He wasn’t giving his opinion. He was reporting back what was talked about in that meeting,” Fagan said.

“I’m glad he did because we’re not going to shy away from it.

“We’re a really strong organisation, and you know what good organisations do? They ‘fess up to the truth, and that’s what he did.

“Poorer organisations would hide and not say what we’ve got to improve.

“I was proud of the way he stepped up, I was disappointed with the way it was reported.

“We had a good, honest conversation on Monday that everyone was involved in and everyone at the club was cool with what Lachie said.”

With the Lions having a bye next weekend, Fagan was confident Neale would be fit for Brisbane’s grand final rematch against Collingwood on Easter Thursday.

He was also adamant that the Lions, who have already been hit with Keidean Coleman’s season-ending knee injury, had the necessary depth to beat Fremantle without former Docker Neale.

“We’ve managed to have a pretty good record when Lachie doesn’t play,” Fagan said.

“He missed about seven games a few years back (2021) … and he reminded me yesterday we won every one of those games.

“If you want to be any good in this competition you’ve got to have depth. You can’t just rely on one player.

“I understand he’s the reigning Brownlow medallist … but I’d be disappointed if others don’t stand up in his absence.”