Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has revealed that star midfielder Lachie Neale did not inform him of his tour of Collingwood's headquarters, but he says he is not overly concerned about the visit.
Neale, a dual Brownlow medallist, visited the Magpies' base last Friday, just a day before Brisbane suffered a 76-point loss to Carlton. The 33-year-old, who is an unrestricted free agent, is widely expected to join Collingwood at the end of the season.
Fagan's reaction
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Fagan said he was unaware of Neale's plans until they became public. "He hadn't spoken to me about it, so I wasn't aware," Fagan said. "And he doesn't have to either; he doesn't have to do that. It would be nice if he would, so you don't get caught by surprise, but that's the way it is."
Fagan acknowledged that player movement is becoming more common in the AFL. "As an industry, we probably need to get used to the idea that that sort of stuff is going to happen more and more, that seems to be the trend, doesn't it," he said. "There's more and more player movement, there's more and more free agents and those free agents can exercise their rights to check out potentially their new workplace."
Preference for privacy
While Fagan accepted the situation, he admitted he would have preferred the visit not to have become public knowledge. "To be honest, I probably would have preferred that ... it didn't become public knowledge," he said. "Or that it could have been done post our game last week so that all the speculation of whether that was the right or wrong thing to do wouldn't happen, but it has and I've not lost any sleep over it, to be honest."
Collingwood assistant coach Hayden Skipworth declined to comment on Neale specifically, saying the visit was a matter for list manager Justin Leppitsch. When asked how Neale would look in Magpies colours, Skipworth replied: "There's plenty of players that would look good in Collingwood (colours). I won't comment on other people from other clubs. But we're always looking to get better as a club through our draft and free agent picks."
Focus on rebound
Fagan said his primary focus this week is on bouncing back from the heavy defeat to Carlton. The Lions have slipped to fifth on the ladder and face third-placed Hawthorn in a Friday night blockbuster.
"I have a lot of faith in this group," Fagan said. "If you look at their record over the last eight years, you would have a lot of faith in them too. The odd time over those years we have had a poor loss, we have always been able to respond. I'm backing the group in to do that this week."
