‘No holding back’ for Lion Lachie Neale; Chol cleared at tribunal; Tigers chase Breust

Brisbane star Lachie Neale is confident he can play in the grand final but will have to train “flat-out” in Melbourne on Thursday to convince his coach Chris Fagan that it’s worth the risk to recall him.

Fagan told Fox Footy’s AFL360 on Tuesday night, Neale, a dual Brownlow medallist, was doing everything in his power to be available.

“We trained today … it wasn’t a heavy session, but he did everything in a much higher speed than probably everybody else because they’re still trying to recover from Saturday night,” Fagan said.

“We’ve obviously got our main training session on Thursday in Melbourne. I spoke into Lachie and said, ‘well, mate, you’ve got to try and go flat out; there’s no holding back. And we’ll just see how you pull up from that.’

“We’ll make a decision from there with the medical staff and myself and see which way we go. But if the if the medical staff and our fitness people give him the tick off, then I’m going to back him in.”

Neale, who has missed the past two games because of a torn calf, trained well for an hour at the Lions’ Springfield base on Tuesday.

Fagan said the Lions medical and fitness staff were impressed with how Neale trained on Tuesday.

“He moved well today, and I think Lachie expects that he’s going to be right to go, but we’ll still wait and see,” the coach said.

Neale was initially ruled out for the rest of the season when hurt in the qualifying final, the injury deemed to require a four-week recovery. However, Neale has spent time in a hyperbaric chamber, and has worked assiduously to give himself the opportunity for a miracle recovery.

Buoyed by about 2000 fans at training, Neale initially jogged laps before taking part in drills requiring a change of direction. He also completed kicking and ground-ball drills. However, the dual Brownlow Medallist did not run at full speed.

Teammate Jarrod Berry’s situation looks more problematic.  He dislocated his shoulder against Collingwood on Saturday, and was restricted to light work away from the main group. He completed a series of overhead marks and, like Neale, will need to prove he can do more at the Lions’ main training session on Thursday.

Lions ruckman Oscar McInerney said Neale and Berry were doing all they could to be as fit as possible to face the Cats.

“Those guys will look after themselves and do a really good job to give them the best opportunity,” McInerney said.

“As players, [the job is] to not look too far ahead and just do what we’ve got to do day-to-day to get there.”

Neale had 35 disposals in last year’s grand final, but the Lions have done well to progress without him over the past fortnight in wins over the Gold Coast and Collingwood, Will Ashcroft helping to fill the midfield void.

McInerney played in the Lions’ 2023 grand final loss to Collingwood, but was a heartbreak tale last year when ruled out of the grand final because of a shoulder dislocation.

He does not appear to be at full fitness, having dealt with injury issues this year, but says he is ready to have an impact on Saturday.

“It’s been a different year. It’s everyone’s dream to be part of this week so the hunger’s all the same,” he said.

“The body’s fine. We’ve got incredible medical staff to look after us and they put a plan together, and it’s paid off.”

Chol cleared at tribunal for Stewart tackle

Hawthorn’s Mabior Chol was cleared of rough conduct by the AFL tribunal for the tackle that concussed Geelong ace Tom Stewart, and forced him out of Saturday’s grand final.

The charge, and Chol’s proposed three-game ban, were dismissed after a 100-minute hearing at the tribunal on Tuesday night.

Five-time All Australian defender Stewart will miss Saturday’s grand final against Brisbane after entering the league’s 12-day concussion protocols.

Chol’s rough conduct charge was graded by match review officer Michael Christian as high contact, severe impact and careless conduct.

Chol didn’t give evidence at Tuesday’s hearing, but his counsel Myles Tehan disputed the charge arising from last Friday night’s preliminary final.

“He (Chol) feels sorry for what happened to Stewart as a result of this footballing accident,” Tehan told the tribunal. “We all know what the consequence is, by reason of the concussion protocols, and of course the significance of the game this weekend ... but it was a football accident. That tackle was not unreasonable.”

Albert Dinelli, KC, for the AFL, argued Chol failed in his duty of care to Stewart.

“Chol falls on the player and his (Stewart’s) arms are pinned ... and it’s only once his head hits the ground that player Chol rolls off,” Dinelli said.

“And indeed player Chol’s actions in propelling him forward is such that there was considerable force with the ground, which obviously results in the concussion. The ball is released as player Stewart was falling to the ground, but his arms remained pinned to him in such a way that he’s not able to break his fall.

“And it’s that vulnerability caused by the tackle upon which we focus.”

Chol had options to mitigate the risk including releasing one or both arms of the Geelong star, or rolling him to one side, Dinelli said.

But Tehan challenged the AFL’s assertion that Stewart’s arms were pinned, and Chol didn’t roll off the defender. A tangle of legs between Chol, Stewart and another Hawk tackler, Sam Butler, had contributed to the outcome, he said.

The Hawthorn advocate said Stewart “gets a handball of some description out and his left arm starts to move forward”.

“That was an opportunity for Stewart to move his left arm in a way that might protect himself,” Tehan said. “Of course we’re not at all victim-blaming in this ... but it was reasonable for Chol to expect that Stewart would be able to move his arm to protect himself.

“The three-member panel – tribunal chair Jeff Gleeson, KC, and former players Paul Williams and Shane Wakelin – deliberated for 50 minutes before handing down their verdict.

“An important factor in our consideration was the involvement of the Butler tackle, in the way that it affected the Chol tackle,” Gleeson said. “Butler’s tackle caused Stewart to lose his feet and by the time Chol commenced his tackle, it was inevitable that Stewart was going to ground.”

Gleeson also noted Stewart handballed while tackled by Chol.

“The limitation on the movement of his (Stewart’s) arms was not absolute,” he said. “The question is, however, whether what Chol did was unreasonable in the circumstances. We are not clearly satisfied that it was.“
– AAP

Breust has eye of the Tigers

Peter Ryan

Richmond are in discussions with retired Hawthorn champion Luke Breust to take on a development role with the club as the Tigers look to bolster the resources in that area to fast track the progress of the exciting young talent on their list.

The champion Hawk suffered an ACL injury in his final match, a VFL preliminary final, having already announced his retirement after three premierships in 308 games with the Hawks.

He was among the best small forwards the game has seen kicking 553 goals in his career to sit seventh on Hawthorn’s goalkicking list behind club legends, Jason Dunstall, Lance Franklin, Leigh Matthews, Peter Hudson, Jarryd Roughead and Jack Gunston.

Breust was coached by Richmond senior coach Adem Yze when Yze was an assistant at the Hawks and will be a huge asset for the Tigers who are rebuilding with a large contingent of young talent on their list.

They added six first round picks to their list in last year’s strong draft and have picks two and three in this year’s draft ahead of the trade period.

Breust has been developing his coaching skills as a senior player under Sam Mitchell with dynamo small forward Nick Watson saying the 34-year-old had made an enormous contribution to his development in his first two seasons.

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