Recommitted Lachie Neale [RFA 2026] - name was floated for a move in 2025, stayed

[Elite Pete]

They have got stuff all to trade for him though...so they might need to sit this one out

Free agent next year. Cal is saying this will all go down next year if he leaves

 

[briztoon]

Lachie will be 33yo in May, there’s no way the Lions would expect a 1R pick. Their midfield is stacked and Annable coming in too, Fletcher is easily good enough to transition, so is Marshall. If Brisbane get Lachie’s salary off the books they can match Starcevich which will hopefully put us off as well as pay for Oscar, Draper and god knows who else. Lachie gets another year and then a coaching gig.

If it happens it’s Neale for Hawks 3R and handshake agreement on no bidding.

Agree with most of this.

We'd probably want the Hawks second round pick 31, and send you back pick 50.

 

[GoEaglesGoSGIO]

AFL compo pick at beginning of 2nd round for Neale and Starcevich plus not bidding on Annable seems about right

 

[freo_leo29]

Agree with most of this.

We'd probably want the Hawks second round pick 31, and send you back pick 50.

If he is coming that cheap then Freo should be all over him

I don't think the Lions are going to be as happy to trade him as some people suggest on here

Either that or he is asking for a shit tonne of $$ that Freo don't wanna pay I guess

 

[quackish]

If he is coming that cheap then Freo should be all over him

I don't think the Lions are going to be as happy to trade him as some people suggest on here

Either that or he is asking for a shit tonne of $$ that Freo don't wanna pay I guess

If he gets to the end of the season and asks for a trade home for family reasons, what reason could Brisbane conjure up to hold him there?

He's won them a flag and 2 brownlows. He's old as dirt and they have a million young mids coming up the pipeline. Plus he's on a fair bit of coin and they're gonna need to be paying up for a bunch of players that have nominated Brisbane as their club of choice.

IDK just a thought

 

[freo_leo29]

If he gets to the end of the season and asks for a trade home for family reasons, what reason could Brisbane conjure up to hold him there?

He's won them a flag and 2 brownlows. He's old as dirt and they have a million young mids coming up the pipeline. Plus he's on a fair bit of coin and they're gonna need to be paying up for a bunch of players that have nominated Brisbane as their club of choice.

IDK just a thought

Captain of the club who is contracted while they are contending?

Zach Merrett is trying to get out as a contracted captain and look how thats going

 

[leighmo]

Captain of the club who is contracted while they are contending?

Zach Merrett is trying to get out as a contracted captain and look how thats going

Neale isn’t meeting opposition coaches while still contracted.

Also, Brisbane aren’t desperate for quality mids like Essendon.

 

[eastfreo75]

Fremantle don't want as they have Serong and Murphy and getting Kneel makes the midfield small and too one paced.

 

[amazingjoshy]

AFL compo pick at beginning of 2nd round for Neale and Starcevich plus not bidding on Annable seems about right

Exactly what a priority pick/s should be for, to make a non competitive team instantly better

 

[eastfreo75]

Exactly what a priority pick/s should be for, to make a non competitive team instantly better

AFL gets what they want. Brisbane gets Allen for nothing, salary cap space and points for their academy players. West Coast get pick 2, and two leaders and solid players.

 

[Rich01]

Exactly what a priority pick/s should be for, to make a non competitive team instantly better

Yep, picking up players like Starcevich, Neale and having a couple of extra list spots to choose experienced DFAs would be the best way to make the team more competitive and support the young group.

Giving them another pick or two in this draft to use on a kid doesn’t do that.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Captain of the club who is contracted while they are contending?

Zach Merrett is trying to get out as a contracted captain and look how thats going

Come on now - if you can't see a clear difference in the current status of Lachie Neale and Zach Merrett then you may be out of your depth here.

If Neale is keen to move on now it is highly unlikely that Brisbane are holding him over a barrell and forcing him to stay. That would make no sense.

Regardless, it might all be bunk anyway, so don't stress too much about West Coast getting something 'nice' for less than a root canal.

 

[freo_leo29]

Neale isn’t meeting opposition coaches while still contracted.

Also, Brisbane aren’t desperate for quality mids like Essendon.

How do you expect this trade to go down then?

He would have to meet the coach...

 

[Tom14]

Come on now - if you can't see a clear difference in the current status of Lachie Neale and Zach Merrett then you may be out of your depth here.

If Neale is keen to move on now it is highly unlikely that Brisbane are holding him over a barrell and forcing him to stay. That would make no sense.

Regardless, it might all be bunk anyway, so don't stress too much about West Coast getting something 'nice' for less than a root canal.

Is he?

Any evidence beyond bigfooty rumours and a 10News Perth reporter deciding to act out fanfiction and ask Freo and WCE officials about it?

I'd be pretty stunned if he was that inclined to leave this year as opposed to when out of contract next year. I think we'd pretty clearly say to him that he has a chance for another flag if he sticks around for another season.

Not interested in a draft pick for Neale given we (a) don't need them this year and (b) WC shouldn't offer more than a second round pick that just makes matching a bid slightly easier.

In terms of 'his money going frees stuff up for others' if you believe the richlist he doesn't even earn $1m. Moving money around is not hard so him staying on the books for another year doesn't really even help that much with cap management.

 

[Altum Volantes]

Is he?

Any evidence beyond bigfooty rumours and a 10News Perth reporter deciding to act out fanfiction and ask Freo and WCE officials about it?

I'd be pretty stunned if he was that inclined to leave this year as opposed to when out of contract next year. I think we'd pretty clearly say to him that he has a chance for another flag if he sticks around for another season.

Not interested in a draft pick for Neale given we (a) don't need them this year and (b) WC shouldn't offer more than a second round pick that just makes matching a bid slightly easier.

In terms of 'his money going frees stuff up for others' if you believe the richlist he doesn't even earn $1m. Moving money around is not hard so him staying on the books for another year doesn't really even help that much with cap management.

If you kept reading my post, you will note that I closed with 'it may all be bunk anyway'.

 

[Altum Volantes]

How do you expect this trade to go down then?

He would have to meet the coach...

He'd do it at the blessing of his current club, obviously.

Use your common sense mate - while your scenario of 'Brisbane would never let him go!' may ring true, the alternative of Brisbane being willing to accommodate a move will help you get your head around the differences between him and Merrett.

 

[TY24]

Captain of the club who is contracted while they are contending?

Zach Merrett is trying to get out as a contracted captain and look how thats going

If you can't see the difference between Merrett and Neale in this situation then I can't help you

 

[blinkd]

I would much rather see Neale in purple. I understand the arguments against with our small midfield and one paced spread however, Lachie would offer experience and leadership which is also valuable. Plus I am a romantic.

It also makes sense for WC to have a look, especially if they can get those extra late first round picks. Help raise their floor and he’d set a good example of standards.

 

[Elixuh]

I think you’re overthinking it if you think Neale makes Freos midfield too one pace and small. He will make their midfield much harder to restrict and their premiership window is now.

Alex Pearce

25

Alex Pearce

Age

30

Ht

201cm

Wt

98kg

Pos.

Def

Career

Season

Last 5

D

10.6

3star

K

5.2

2star

HB

5.4

4star

M

3.4

3star

T

1.8

4star

MG

106.3

2star

No current season stats available

D

11.0

3star

K

5.0

2star

HB

6.0

4star

M

4.4

4star

T

0.8

3star

MG

103.2

2star

is 31 next year and is holding that defence together. He isn’t going to go on forever.

 

[freo_leo29]

If you can't see the difference between Merrett and Neale in this situation then I can't help you

The difference is Brisbane are challenging and Essendon aren't


Merett has given more years to the bombers than Neale has to Brisbane


If anything, Brissy would be less likely to let him leave

 

[TY24]

The difference is Brisbane are challenging and Essendon aren't


Merett has given more years to the bombers than Neale has to Brisbane


If anything, Brissy would be less likely to let him leave

Brisbane have plenty of young mids coming through to take Neales place and even more in their academy pipeline.

Allowing him to move on may hurt them slightly in the short term but long term - wiping his salary off the books will be a good thing for them.

Essendon losing their best player will set their rebuild back years - they're not going to get a ready-made replacement for him and they'll have to invest significant time into whoever they draft to try and fill that void.

 

[s_wd6]

Alex Pearce is 31 next year and is holding that defence together. He isn’t going to go on forever.

Dude missed 8 games this year and we won them all.

Pearce’s age has zero correlation to Neale coming in

 

[Elixuh]

Dude missed 8 games this year and we won them all.

Winning H&A is a different caper to finals. Was freos best player against GCS.

Harris andrews holds our defence together but we can win without him. It doesn’t mean the premise is untrue.

 

[s_wd6]

Winning H&A is a different caper to finals. Was freos best player against GCS.

Harris andrews holds our defence together but we can win without him. It doesn’t mean the premise is untrue.

Was our best in the last for sure. Was close to our worst for the other three quarters.

 

[leighmo]

How do you expect this trade to go down then?

He would have to meet the coach...

Like any other trade, agent reaches out before player requests a trade