Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has called on umpires to closely monitor the attention Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale is receiving at stoppages.
It comes as Neale was successfully negated by Geelong’s Mark O’Connor during last Friday’s match at GMHBA Stadium.
The star Lion was restricted to just three disposals in the first half and finished with 16 for the night as O’Connor’s hard tag helped the Cats gain the upper hand in the midfield.
Fagan believes Neale was illegally blocked at times, denying him a fair passage to the ball.
“Well, to be fair, there’s been a lot of talk about Lachie Neale being tagged,” Fagan told SEN’s Whateley.
“Lachie Neale got tagged I reckon in half the games he played last year. Some days he came out on top, some days he didn’t. He’s accustomed to that sort of attention.
“My personal view is that by and large he deals with it well, he probably didn’t in the first half last week, I thought his second half was much, much better.
“The umpires are looking closely at forwards v backs and those contests at the moment, they need to look closely at the contests around stoppages, to see whether players are getting a fair run at the ball.
“Because my understanding of the rule is if people grab you or block you when you’re a certain distance away from the ball, that’s not legal – and there was a bit of that the other night.
“O’Connor did a terrific job by and large, but I just think that needs to be looked at a little more closely by the umpires.”
Fagan has approached the AFL about blocks and holds off the ball at stoppages.
“I have spoken to people at the AFL just to have a little look at it,” he added.
“It wasn’t a major complaint at all, more on behalf of all midfielders who happen to get tagged.
“I don’t think anyone minds if it’s just a fair dinkum contest but blocks and holds off the ball, that’s a different matter.”
Fagan’s Lions are winless after two rounds and had their Round 3 clash against Collingwood moved from the Gabba to Marvel Stadium due to COVID.
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