With a Brownlow Medal hanging around his neck, Lachie Neale has put his Brisbane side “on the hook” and vowed not to stop until the next box is ticked.
The Lions midfielder romped to the AFL’s top individual honour on Sunday night, accepting the medal at the Gabba a day after his side was rolled by Geelong in a one-sided preliminary final.
Fremantle recruit Neale, who admitted he was still terribly flat after the loss, credited his side for putting him in the frame for the prize.
The Lions have gone from five-win seasons in 2017 and 2018 to second place regular-season finishes in the two years since Neale has joined the club.
Neale likes to write down his goals and he says there will be some freshly-scratched notes once he’s enjoyed some time off.
“I’ll sit down and write them down probably in four weeks, but the ultimate is a premiership,” he said.
“That’s what I want, what I crave and I don’t think we’re going to stop until we get there.
“I’m willing to put us on the hook; this group can have a really sustained successful period and I look forward to being a part of it.”
Neale’s teammates have praised his ability to lift their games, the likes of Zac Bailey and Brandon Starcevich joining Harris Andrews, Hugh McCluggage, Jarrod Berry and Cameron Rayner as the side’s great young hopes this year thanks to his mentorship.
The possible addition of Essendon’s Joe Daniher next season would add another bow to a forward line led by the dynamic Charlie Cameron.
“We’ve got so many young guys with so much room for improvement and the more senior footy they play together the better they’ll play as a team,” Neale said.
“We know we’ve got to put in the work every summer, every off-season, otherwise teams will go past us.
“(Geelong were) a lot stronger, played better (on Saturday) but we’ve got the talent, now we just have to put in the work and we should be aiming very high in the next few years.”