AFL officials intervened to send Lachie Neale for a head injury assessment after Brisbane’s clash with Geelong continued while he stumbled around the ground.
The dual Brownlow medallist was clearly affected following a friendly-fire knee to the head from Cam Rayner at a centre bounce in the second quarter.
Neale stayed down in the centre circle for a moment before standing up and being seen briefly by a physio, who left the scene soon after.
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Doctors were assessing the vision on the boundary without tending to Neale.
“I’m surprised they haven’t gone out to him to this stage,” Mitch Cleary said on Channel 7.
Brian Taylor noted: “They can go out at any time — they’re not restricted, the medicos.”
Kane Cornes said the umpires should have intervened quickly.
“That’s where I’d be open for the umpires to stop the game. We stop it at ridiculous times when someone’s foot’s been trodden on,” he said.
An AFL official then told the emergency umpire to call for a stoppage.
“Right call,” Cornes said.
Neale looked displeased to be ordered off.
“That makes absolute sense. Lachie knows deep down that’s the right thing,” Taylor said.
Cornes added: “Absolutely well-handled. Probably three minutes too late but better late than never, well-handled by the docs and the AFL on the bench.”
In a post-script to the drama, Neale then copped it from a Geelong supporter in the front row.
Neale appeared to send some words back before being ushered away by the doctor, with the man seen waving at Neale and laughing to his mate.
“Bit of advice from the locals,” Cornes said.
Taylor added: “Nothing he hasn’t heard before.”
Neale passed his concussion test and returned to the field with six minutes remaining in the second term, at around the same time Cats star Max Holmes went down to the rooms with a hamstring concern.
Holmes, who has a history of hamstring problems, passed a fitness test to begin the second half.
Brisbane started the blockbuster clash like a house on fire with eight straight goals before Geelong kicked their first.
“(The Cats are) shellshocked, the other side is as hot as you are ever going to see — eight goals straight from 11 entries, and Geelong don’t know where to look,” Cornes said in the opening term.
But Patrick Dangerfield’s drought-breaker before the quarter-time siren sparked the Cats.
The captain had the chance to cut the margin to just two points at half-time with a set shot after the siren but kicked a behind, with the seven-point deficit still remarkable given the horror start.
Neale had been in the spotlight before the bounce on Thursday night with fresh speculation about his future.
The 33-year-old, an unrestricted free agent is due to meet with his former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon on Friday night as St Kilda join Essendon and Collingwood in the race to bring Neale to Victoria.
“I just see that as the modern game,” Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said of the mid-season meetings in a pre-match interview with Channel 7 on Thursday night.
“The old school in me hates it but I just accept the way things are now. He’s a free agent so it’s OK for him to speak to whoever he wants and he’s got big decisions to make in his life.
“Really all I care about is that he plays well for the Lions, which he has been, so I can’t complain in that regard.”
