It’s never a good thing when a player who is possibly the reason a team were to win goes through an injury. This could only mean that the team now has to make changes that could either make or break the whole game and that sometimes is a scary thing.
This is exactly what a Brisbane team feared when The Brownlow medalist headed to the Gabba change rooms midway through the session holding his right wrist to support the shoulder after landing awkwardly. Neale left the field following a quick chat to the Lions’ medical team and did not return.
It was the same shoulder he injured in round 15 against Geelong when he left the ground but miraculously returned to play the game out and contribute strongly to a Lions victory.
Following the session, Brisbane’s high performance manager Damien Austin said Neale’s injury was not as bad as it looked. “He fell down on his shoulder. It jars his back a little bit, but he’s fine and we expect him to play, He pulled up sore, it gives him a bit of a stinger, but we expect him to play on the weekend.”
Neale has endured an injury-interrupted season, playing 11 of the 17 games.
He played through a back problem early in the year before requiring ankle surgery following a round six win over Carlton. He then missed the round 16 game against Adelaide with a calf niggle.
Brisbane plays Gold Coast at the Gabba on Saturday.
