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The “iconic moment” that broke the Grand Final open
Andrew Slevison • September 29th, 2025 10:53 am
There is almost always a specific moment in a tight Grand Final that opens the floodgates and separates the two teams.
In Saturday’s decider between Brisbane and Geelong at the MCG, it occurred in the dying moments of the third quarter when Lachie Neale nailed a goal from 50 to put his Lions 19 points up.
A lot of the talk leading up to the season decider was whether Neale would be fit to play after injuring his calf in the Qualifying Final loss to the Cats just over three weeks ago.
The Lions would in the end start the two-time Brownlow Medallist as the sub before he replaced Sam Marshall at half-time.
Neale took a little while to fully get into the game but exploded late in the third quarter when he bombed home after receiving a handball from Dayne Zorko.
SEN’s David King and Kane Cornes discussed the overall Neale decision while breaking down what they describe as an “iconic” Grand Final moment.
“You marvel at the fact Chris Fagan took the risk,” King said on SEN’s Fireball.
“The game panned out exactly how they would have loved it to. Have it in an arm wrestle and then we can inject him and if he goes crazy then away we go.”
Cornes was initially worried that it was a little early to activate Neale at the beginning of the third term, but was happy to be proven wrong.
“I thought they went a fraction early to go at half-time,” he said.
“Then (Brandon) Starcevich had the concussion and they’d already made their sub. He (Neale) was actually a bit scratchy when he first came on and lost his feet a couple of times.
“He was struggling to find it, he was in good positions but couldn’t get his hands on it. I think he only had three possessions until the late stages of the third term.
“Then he kicked that goal. That was the goal that broke the whole game open. From a psychological point of view for him, then he started to feel it and the midfield just started to go whack.”
See the Neale goal below:
King added: “There’s an iconic moment in every Grand Final and that was the one.”
Cornes praised Lions coach Chris Fagan for making such a gutsy call with Neale.
“That was ‘the’ moment,” Cornes added.
“From Zorko coming off his man to set up Neale. He struck that ball as good as you can strike it. It split the middle.
“Then the reaction and you thought it was going to be hard for Geelong from here.
“That’s the beauty of Chris Fagan. He’s so loyal to his players. He backs them in and gets the results.
“It was a big call so well done to Chris for picking him.”
Neale’s big goal made it three on end for the Lions to close out the third term. They then piled on nine fourth-quarter goals to Geelong’s five, winning by 47 points to clam back-to-back premierships.
For the record, Neale finished with 17 disposals, seven clearances, seven score involvements, four inside 50s, two goal assists and that iconic game-breaking goal.
