Opinion Who was the superior player Simon Black or Lachie Neale?

[Johnny Bananas]

Blacky at this point. It's hard to look past the premierships.

He didn't win them on his own though. If Neale was in that era instead of Black, who's to say we wouldn't have won four?

 

[knaf]

Nice essay question for Lions supporters 3KZ. But it would have been better to save it for tomorrow. I have a feeling this could be a dark a gloomy place after tonight. This thread may be the only light on the board.

 

[scoman]

He didn't win them on his own though. If Neale was in that era instead of Black, who's to say we wouldn't have won four?

Or if Black was in this current side? It's a close thing between the two and I'm splitting it based on premierships.

Three Brownlows for Neale and/ or a premiership would make it interesting.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Nice essay question for Lions supporters 3KZ. But it would have been better to save it for tomorrow. I have a feeling this could be a dark a gloomy place after tonight. This thread may be the only light on the board.

I hope not knaf. I'm still depressed from last week.

 

[knaf]

I hope not knaf. I'm still depressed from last week.

Maybe I’m still depressed too. Not looking forward to tonight.

 

[3KZ is Football]

Maybe I’m still depressed too. Not looking forward to tonight.

I feel like we are on a hiding to nothing. I suspect we will win tonight and probably the first week of the finals, but having thrown away a top four finish, I can't see us making the Grand Final. Realistically, I think a re-run of 2022 is the best we can hope for and I was at the MCG when we were thrashed by Geelong in the Preliminary Final. Too many road trips between now and the ultimate prize.

 

[dropbear101]

fantastic question. i think neale is one of the most consistent players i've ever seen. and if i were to draft one it would be neale. i atually suspect he could have won a brownlow at freo before he went to you (but we were terrible).

but black dominated a GF. and won 3 GF's and if you were any good after 2004, he might have won another brownlow. so if i were to have one player to win it all it would be black.

 

[luthor]

I Know this will be sacrilege to most seasoned Lions supporters but I'm taking Lachie.

 

[Tom14]

I’ll give the edge to Black purely based on the 03 grand final.

A LOT closer now. I still go black I think, but that's probably coloured by him playing his whole career for us.

 

[dlanod]

A LOT closer now. I still go black I think, but that's probably coloured by him playing his whole career for us.

How much is a Norm Smith worth compared to "probably should've won the Norm Smith"?

 

[dropbear101]

i think blacks best games were better as he would slice teams apart with his kicking. lachie is more of an accumulator and perhaps more of an extractor.

thus lachie is better during the seasons, will win more accolades. but black has a higher ceiling.

 

[notliondown]

What a bloody hard question... I never thought I'd say it but I have to go with Lachie.

But only because of the last 1-2 years. In that time he's rounded his game more, he's more involved on the outside and has started to hit the scoreboard. I think the other things that stand him out are his ability to carry the team and out work a tag - Lachie has had to carry the midfield far more that Blackie did.

Blackie was - is - a true superstar. And as others have said it's almost impossible to compare eras. But there was no doubt he benefited from one of the most balanced, star studded teams ever. That midfield group is still the pinnacle as a whole. As incredible as Blackie was he was part of a bigger picture.

Our current midfield is improving no doubt but for a long time it was pretty much a 1 man show.

 

[Nunez]

I wouldn't have expected we'd have a player close to the level of Black, so the fact that this is a genuine discussion speaks volumes as to how good Lachie is.

Speaking of which, Lachie looks raring to go. No signs of slowing down in the slightest.

 

[Toffee Lion]

As of right now it's Black but Lachie is that good he could surpass him with another flag I reckon.

Black should have won the 2008 Brownlow IMO and came second in 2007 as well. He was always up there.

For me Simon Black is one of the best players I've ever seen live, if he played in Melbourne he would have been more highly regarded. Didn't help that he also played in a stacked team.

 

[Miluxx]

Black. I love lachie and what he has achieved. He is a superstar in his own right. But black hands down.

 

[pod17]

For mine it’s still Black, and by a fair way. Him, Brown and a handful of others kept us semi-competitive for years when without them we would have bottomed out completely.

Runner up in a couple of Brownlows when we were very mediocre. Had we won more games during that time he’d be a three time winner to go with three premierships.

IMO Lachie amazing, Black almost the best pure midfielder in our history.

 

[Lazza16]

3KZ Junior asked me this morning, who was the better player, Simon Black or Lachie Neale. When he sensed that I was completely stumped, he tried to qualify the question by asking who was most impactful. That didn’t help.

Having spent the best part of sixty years watching AFL / VFL football, I would rate these two players as the best inside midfielders at Fitzroy or Brisbane that I have ever seen. They are probably among the best of any club over that time. But that doesn’t help me answer the question. There is no disrespect intended to either, they are both ornaments to the game and the club. I am privileged to have watched them play.

Who do people think was the superior footballer? Who was most impactful? Who was the most skilled? Who had the most weapons? Is it Simon Black or Lachie Neale?

I am genuinely stumped for an answer.

Murph

 

[martinson]

Murph

Lachie. Don't think he's ever had a Voss to back him up.

But not much in it . Really impossible to compare ,different eras and circumstances plus Lachie's not done yet.

 

[Dalions]

What puts Black on top at this stage imo is that he is a perfectly balanced inside, outside mid with pure skills.
Where Lachie has built his game purely as an inside mid but has improved his outside ability, particularly last year, so if he continues to develop that area of his game it would be an extremely close call.

 

[martinson]

What puts Black on top at this stage imo is that he is a perfectly balanced inside, outside mid with pure skills.
Where Lachie has built his game purely as an inside mid but has improved his outside ability, particularly last year, so if he continues to develop that area of his game it would be an extremely close call.

I think Lachie is still improving in some areas of his game. I guess at his age you'd expect him to be on a downward slope rather than not but that's not the case . He's also become far more a team focused player since he took over the Captaincy which certainly helped players like Will in the last few games in '24.

 

[Dalions]

I think Lachie is still improving in some areas of his game. I guess at his age you'd expect him to be on a downward slope rather than not but that's not the case . He's also become far more a team focused player since he took over the Captaincy which certainly helped players like Will in the last few games in '24.

The less reliant we become on Lachie, the better we become as a team.

 

[martinson]

The less reliant we become on Lachie, the better we become as a team.

It's an interesting point that having won a flag Lachie will now be totally focused on getting another one which will mean fostering improvement in the younger players around him and becoming more potent and less predictable in other ways.

He's in a sweet spot in his career if Will ,Levi , Dunks , McCluggage, Rayner and others can eat into his current role.

 

[Saucery]

Lachie. Don't think he's ever had a Voss to back him up.

But not much in it . Really impossible to compare ,different eras and circumstances plus Lachie's not done yet.

Lachie is a premiership captain with a good but lesser overall group there to support him. Voss took a lot of heat off Black in terms of tags. You can't compare Dunkley, McCluggage etc to the fab 4. They are awesome but not the gods of old, Lachie just.

 

[beatnik]

Great question!

For mine the all-time Brisbane midfield ranking looks like this:

Voss
Daylight
Neale
Bee Phallus
Black
Lappin
Akermanis
More Daylight
Others


…and yes, Nige was better than Aker. Period.

 

[lionraven]

Great question!

For mine the all-time Brisbane midfield ranking looks like this:

Voss
Daylight
Neale
Bee Phallus
Black
Lappin
Akermanis
More Daylight
Others


…and yes, Nige was better than Aker. Period.

I have only been following footy since the 2000s. I assume B Phallus was an all-time great at the Bears in the 90s. Its also great to see the Daylight father-son team get some recognition. Maybe the Ashcroft legacy could surpass them in the long term. I think Others is over-rated but otherwise, good list.