Team Announcement: Lions name Co-Captain for Grand Final

The Brisbane Lions have selected Premiership Co-Captain Lachie Neale for Saturday’s 2025 Toyota AFL Grand Final.

Neale, who injured his calf in the Lions’ Qualifying Final with Geelong, trained on Tuesday and Thursday where he proved his fitness to take his place in the team.

The Club and Jarrod Berry have however both agreed to make the difficult decision for the midfielder not to play in the Grand Final, after Berry dislocated his shoulder during last week’s Preliminary Final.

Brisbane Lions General Manager Football, Danny Daly praised the 2024 premiership player following the call being made.

“Every player wants to play in a Grand Final because it’s an opportunity that some never get, and Bez like anyone was desperate to play because he wanted to be out there to do his part to help the team, though due to his team-first and selfless mentality he agreed with us that the right decision was for him not to play,” Daly said.

“Bez is such a loved and important part of this Club, and we also wanted nothing more than for him to be out there on Saturday, however Grand Finals always produce some level of heartbreak when it comes to selection and unfortunately for Bez this year, he was that story.

“As tough as it was for the Club and Bez to make the decision, we could not be any prouder of the way he has got around all his teammates to do what he can to support and help them in the lead up to the Grand Final because he is genuinely so happy his team is in the big dance.

“Just like they did with Oscar McInerney last year, every player that takes the field on Saturday will be digging that bit deeper as they play for Bez and he will play an invaluable role between now and the end of the game Saturday which will help the boys immensely.”

The Lions have named Kai Lohmann, Jaspa Fletcher, Sam Marshall, Bruce Reville and Oscar McInerney on the interchange.

With Sam Day, James Tunstill and Darragh Joyce the three emergencies.

Saturday’s Grand Final is scheduled to start at 2:30pm and will be broadcast live and exclusive on Seven.

If you can’t make the game, you can experience the Grand Final through a Lions lens with plenty of behind-the-scenes insight across the club’s social media channels.

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