AFL star Lachie Neale has been described as a ‘manipulator’ as the Brisbane Lions midfielder requests a trade away from the club for compassionate reasons.
The former Brownlow medallist, who requested a trade to the Queensland club from Fremantle in 2018, now wants to return to the Dockers as his wife Jules wants to have their first child in her home state of Western Australia.
The news was leaked on Sunday, the day after the club’s heartbreaking one-point loss to the Western Bulldogs in their semi-final on Saturday night, with people immediately questioning the timing of the request while the pain of defeat was still so raw.
‘He’s obviously a negotiator, a manipulator when it comes to things he wants done a certain way and it’s not the first time he’s done it,’ AFL Daily co-host Damian Barrett said.
‘He walked out of a contract in Fremantle and he’s now doing it again at the Brisbane Lions.
‘It’s stage managed by Lachie himself. It’s not the first time he’s done that to get out of a footy club contract.’
AFL star Lachie Neale has been described as a ‘manipulator’ as the Brisbane Lions midfielder requests a trade away from the club for compassionate reasons
Neale and his wife Jules are expecting their first child, with his pregnant partner wanting to return home to Western Australia to be around her family for the birth
The news was leaked on Sunday, the day after the club’s heartbreaking one-point loss to the Bulldogs in their semi-final on Saturday night
Neale only informed the club of the trade request in person on Monday afternoon after the story had already become headline news across the country.
‘The club will come out and make a statement sometime this afternoon once we’ve had a chance to speak to Lachie and work through it,’ football manager Danny Daly said on Brisbane radio on Monday.
‘It’s all news to us. As far as we’re concerned, he’s got two years of his contract left and that’s where it is at.’
His wife and WA-raised partner Jules is pregnant with their first child, a girl due later this year.
She wants to return home to avoid being locked out of her home state, with premiers Mark McGowan and Annastacia Palaszczuk introducing draconian closures and rejecting calls for compassionate visits even from residents living interstate.
However the decision has not been met with widespread understanding, with several journalists and former players stunned that the club was not told of his desired trade before the issue became public.
‘They had no line of sight on it until it was made public and that for me says something about Lachie Neale,’ Barrett said.
‘That’s the playing ranks, that’s the official ranks, the board ranks and even people around him.
‘All he had to do was hint to (chief executive) Greg Swann over the last couple of months and say, ‘Listen, I think my wife and myself are thinking this way, we don’t know what’s going to happen.
‘You at least give them a line of sight with a bombshell you drop the day after you lose a semi-final.’
Neale only informed the club of the trade request in person on Monday afternoon after the story had already become headline news across the country
Neale met his wife while playing for the Fremantle Dockers, who he requested a trade from to the Brisbane Lions in 2018
It’s understood Lachie Neale (pictured with wife Jules following his 2020 Brownlow Medal win) wants to return to Western Australia to be closer to his wife’s family
Walkley Award-winning reporter Caroline Wilson added her two cents, suggesting a front-loaded contract – meaning the final two years of the deal were not paid as handsomely as the initial three – could explain his decision.
‘He said he wanted to stay at the club, but said his wife Jules, who’s expecting their first child very soon, wants to go back to Western Australia, which is her home in Perth,’ she said on Footy Classified.
‘And three years into a five-year deal that’s probably front-ended. I just don’t think he’s done the right thing by the club at all.’
Co-host and Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said the issue demonstrated how little loyalty current players have toward the clubs.
‘It was a shock when he left Fremantle, now it’s a shock when he leaves Brisbane. It just shows the players don’t care any more,’ the Bombers legend said.
‘When Kane (Cornes) and I were finishing up if you had a contract you’d honour it, now the players just do whatever they want to do.’
The news comes after his teammate Mitch Robinson was quick to distance himself from a photoshopped tweet taking an angry shot at Neale.
An image featuring Robinson’s Twitter profile photo which was photoshopped onto an abusive tweet about Neale sent the rumour mill into overdrive on Sunday night.
‘Lachie Neale, we gave up heaps for you, you won a Brownlow, made the finals three times with us, then you just want to leave,’ the fake tweet began.
‘Get f******, I’, sick of all this s***, first we got robbed last night (yes I said it), now this, Neale, you’re an absolute selfish t****, we won’t miss you.’
Neale’s Lions teammate Mitch Robinson denied posting the abusive tweet (pictured), insisting it was a fake
Mitch Robinson (pictured with his partner Emma) has shut down reports he fired an abusive tweet slamming a Brisbane Lion teammate
Brisbane Lions superstar Lachie Neale (pictured with wife Jules) is seeking a move back home to Western Australia
Robinson shut down claims it came from his account within an hour of the fake post going public.
‘It’s fake,’ Robinson replied on Twitter and Instagram.
Neale and Robinson were both part of the Lions team that suffered a heartbreaking one point loss against Western Bulldogs on Saturday night, ending their season.
‘I’ve wanted to type some honest s*** but that won’t change the result,’ Robinson posted on social media hours after the semi-final defeat.
‘We’ve received so many positive messages, thanks to all our supporters and fans who’ve been there on this journey!’