AFL officials intervened to send Lachie Neale for a head injury assessment after Brisbane’s 22-point win over Geelong on Thursday night 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.
The 33-year-old had been in the spotlight before the bounce on Thursday night with fresh speculation about his future, due to meet his former Fremantle coach Ross Lyon on Friday night as St Kilda join Essendon and Collingwood in the race to bring Neale to Victoria.
Asked about the interaction with the fan, Neale joked: “I think he was asking me what bottle of red Ross is getting me for dinner.”
“It’s all part of the theatre, it’s good fun, it wasn’t too bad and I don’t think I said anything inappropriate. It was always coming when you’re running along the boundary here at Geelong,” he said.
Neale said he “could still be here” with the Lions next year as he flagged weighing things up “in the next month or so towards the back end of the year”.
There has so far been few indications he will remain with Brisbane.
“I just see that as the modern game,” 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.”
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.
Geelong struck first in the second half before the Lions kicked three goals in four minutes as they marched towards a 19.9 (123) to 14.17 (101) victory soured by Darcy Gardiner’s hamstring injury.
Kai Lohmann finished with five goals while Logan Morris and Zac Bailey, who was given an early mark with hamstring tightness, kicked three apiece.
Star captain Harris Andrews said it was disappointing to concede 100 points but the firepower up forward more than made up for the defensive effort.
Brisbane, now up to a four-game winning streak, leapfrogged the Cats on the ladder to get an edge in the top-four race.
