Lions' "goosebumps" over Neale miracle recovery

If ever Lachie Neale was going to re-injure his calf, it would have happened at training on Thursday.

That is according to teammate Dayne Zorko who saw the two-time Brownlow Medallist put on the afterburners in pursuit of the footy as he got through a full session at Ikon Park.

Zorko’s errant kick worried him that perhaps he might be the reason that Neale would aggravate the injury.

“He thought himself he was a genuine chance of playing. Most of us as players thought this is going to be a bridge too far,” Zorko told SEN Tassie Breakfast.

“Calves aren’t the easiest thing to come back from. He did all the medical requirements he needed to do. He smashed the recovery front.

“I trained with him yesterday and had a close eye on him. I lobbed the ball out in front of him - absolutely not on purpose - but he just dropped the hammer and had gone after it.

“I was like, ‘No, no, no, don’t go for it’. One comes off the side of your foot and you’re like, ‘Ohh, you’re not going to get there in a million years’. But he went absolute ball-hard at it and just missed it, but pulled up sweet and finished the rest of the session.

“I was like, ‘Well, to be honest, it was ever going to go it would have been just then’. He had to react quickly, he put the afterburners on for about 30 metres. It was the quickest I’d seen him move for a while. That gave me goosebumps, but it also gave me a real sense of ‘ok, he’s no worries, that’s good’.

“You throw in nerves for a Grand Final and lactic acid as the game goes on, but for him mentally to do that run and to get through it and then finish off the rest of the training session - this was quite early in the session as well - that will give him a s—-load of confidence. It certainly instilled a lot in me.”

Ow would Zorko have felt if he Neale re-injured his calf because of his kick?

“That why I was screaming ‘don’t go for it’,” Zorko laughed.

Neale opens up

Neale has opened up on his Grand Final preparations after overcoming a calf injury.

The Brisbane Lions star has been selected in the 23 for the season decider against Geelong at the MCG on Saturday despite injuring his calf just a few weeks ago.

Neale praised the Lions medical staff for helping him return to full fitness after he thought his season was over following the Qualifying Final loss to the Cats.

“A lot of help from the medical staff and a great plan,” Neale told SEN’s Fireball.

“I think I looked like a bit of a goose on Instagram when I put up a post saying I was done for the year. I might have to take that one down.

“It was probably a week after I was able to do a little bit more function-wise than what was expected. From there it progressed pretty quickly.”

Neale has spent much of the past few weeks in hyperbaric chambers in order to fast-track his recovery.

He has spent as many as 15 days across three weeks inside a chamber of some sort.

“A lot of chamber time, so a lot of time with my own thoughts. All that stuff (doubt) swells around for hours,” Neale added.

“I’ve been doing a protocol that Josh Low, the high performance guy at the club, set up for me which is five days in there and two days without it. I’ve done that for three weeks.

“A lot of red light. I’m not sure if all that stuff does a whole lot but even if it is that one per cent it can’t hurt.

“I feel fresh, I feel good so I think it has helped.”

"I freaked out"

The gun midfielder admits to freaking out when operating in the tighter confines of the area prescribed to him once arriving in Melbourne.

“The hyperbaric I’ve been using in Brissie is pretty comfortable and spacious,” he said further.

“In Melbourne it’s like a little submarine and a sleeping bag in a way. I’m pretty claustrophobic so my first time in there I freaked out and I was like, ‘Nah, I can’t do it’.

“But you get used to it, you sit down and relax with the headphones in.

“I’d never thought of doing hyperbaric chambers before so that’s probably the biggest thing. The rest has been normal rehab stuff.”

The two-time Brownlow Medallist insists he has full confidence that he will be able to play a full game and impact positively for the Lions.

But he was unsure if he would start as the sub or not.

“Yes, I am very confident I can (play a full game). Whether I will or not, I’m not sure yet,” he added.

“Captain’s run (today) and then the team meeting after that we’ll probably find out more.”

Convincing Fages

So, how was Neale able to convince coach Chris Fagan?

“I don’t really know. I actually haven’t spoken to him all that much,” he continued.

“I spoke to him early in the week. He said I’ve just got to tick all the boxes and get through basically the three sessions (this week) because we had one on Monday as well. I was able to do that and then yesterday he said you’ll be in the 23.

“I’m not sure what that looks like in terms of the 22 or the sub yet, but I’m very thankful he’s given me the opportunity.”

Why he's confident

Thursday’s training session at Ikon Park gave Neale full faith in his body, hitting top speed and doing absolutely everything to suggest he’s ready for the big stage.

“I think I hit my top speed for the year yesterday. I put myself through the wringer last weekend and then again yesterday because mentally you want to be really sure you can get through," he added.

“I’m very confident in my body. I feel like I know it pretty well, I’ve been playing for 14 years and I feel like I can contribute otherwise I would have done the same as Jarrod Berry and selflessly step aside like he has.

“I’m fully confident I can impact.”

Neale replaces Berry (dislocated shoulder) in the team to face the Cats from 2:30pm AEST on Saturday as the Lions chase back-to-back flags.