Neale’s ‘one-man war’ labelled one of the best
LIONS star Lachie Neale’s “one-man war” on Richmond has been hailed as one of the greatest AFL finals performances of all time.
Neale was superb in Brisbane’s thrilling two-point elimination final win over the Tigers at the Gabba on Thursday night.
The 2020 Brownlow medallist, and favourite to win a second this season, had 39 disposals, 15 clearances and nine score involvements to inspire Brisbane and demoralise Richmond.
Lions coach Chris Fagan said Neale’s performance was “one of the great finals games you’ll ever see”.
“He’s so clean and it was a high-pressure, fast-paced game and his ability to collect the ball cleanly and give it to his teammates was outstanding,” Fagan said.
Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko said the performance was hard to sum up in words.
“I’m not sure words can describe it – that’s honestly one of the greatest games I reckon I’ve ever seen,” Zorko told SEN’S Pat and Heals show.
“Fifteen clearances … I think he had nine at halftime, he had the first three of the third quarter. He really led us so well.
“He’s probably had one of the greatest years of all time.
“His numbers are through the roof, but his disposal is becoming more and more damaging, which is very, very difficult for teams to stop.”
Former North Melbourne premiership winner and Fox Footy expert David King hailed Neale’s effort to play the entire second half, and the final 15 minutes of the second quarter, without having a rest on the interchange bench.
“I haven’t seen that before,” King told SEN Breakfast. “An unbelievable game. “He ripped the heart out of Richmond. He was a one-man war.”