Brisbane senior coach Chris Fagan has revealed that Lachie Neale's upcoming stint on the sidelines is more of a precautionary measure than a necessity as the Lions look to qualify inside a top-two spot for September.
Neale, who sustained a quad injury in the Lions' hoodoo-breaking victory over Collingwood in Round 21, was ruled out for the remainder of the home-and-away season this week.
"Neale will need until the end of the home-and-away to recover. It's one of those injuries where if you saw him run yesterday, you'd think, 'Why isn't he playing?'" Fagan told media on Friday.
"It's the threat of if he does something more to it that would be a lot worse, so we have to nip it in the bud now. He should be okay in three weeks' time.
"He's a professional and will be able to train quite hard over the next few weeks. It might even freshen him up.
"The interesting thing last week was he played one of his best games for the year, but he felt that little injury early in the game, but he was able to play like he normally plays."
Neale's absence presents an interesting selection dilemma for Fagan as their 2025 campaign nears conclusion, with opportunities for some players to increase their minutes inside the midfield.
Despite three massive tests in Sydney, Fremantle and Hawthorn in front of the club, Fagan is confident that the void of Neale can be covered strongly, looking to Brisbane's lack of struggles when the dual Brownlow medallist sat on the sidelines for an extended period in 2021.
"I think Neale missed six or seven games [in 2021] with a syndesmosis injury; I think we won every game," Fagan said.
"We've got a really strong midfield, so we expect other boys who have already stepped up all year anyway, to continue to do that. We'd rather have Lachie in our team than not, but it's not the end of the world.
"Levi [Ashcroft] got a little bit of time in there a few weeks ago, and he's been playing as a wingman most of the time, so it might be something we explore tomorrow, but we've got Jarrod Berry who can play inside midfield, we've got Zac Bailey who can play inside mid. We've got a few that can cover."
Another injury blow dealt to the Lions in the Saturday night blockbuster was Ryan Lester, who entered concussion protocols. However, there's a silver lining, as his absence has resulted in the call-up of Tom Doedee, who will play his first AFL game in over 22 months.
Fagan spoke highly of the persistence from the defender, who has put together a strong patch of form in the VFL in recent weeks to earn his spot in the senior side. It included a 19-disposal, seven-mark outing against Gold Coast two weeks ago, followed up by a season-best eight marks against Coburg.
"[Doedee] is a like-for-like replacement. He's played three or four weeks in a row now in the reserves, his game last week was really solid. He feels like he's ready, so it was probably a good time to give him an opportunity," Fagan said.
"He was very happy, it's been a long time for him. He hasn't played since the middle of 2023, so it's a long time between drinks. He's had two ACL injuries and a few other setbacks in that time.
"We recruited him to our club and he was about to play his first game last year, and he did his knee again at training the week before, so he's a good story of persistence, and I'm sure he'll make the most of that opportunity."
