BRISBANE star Lachie Neale's season is in doubt after the two-time Brownlow medallist suffered a calf injury in the Lions' qualifying final loss to Geelong.
The Lions were crunched by a powerful Cats unit at the MCG, with Neale's calf injury in the final quarter adding to the woes as they head into a knockout semi-final clash against Fremantle or Gold Coast next Saturday night.
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Neale returned for the Lions after a quad complaint, but is now in a race to be fit to play again this season if Brisbane progresses through the finals campaign.
"It looks like he's done a calf, so that's not a good thing. He's a pretty tough sort of guy and can usually play through those but he couldn't, so I'm not expecting great news there," coach Chris Fagan said post-game.
"Lachie is pretty tough and would try to keep going, but in the end he couldn't.
"I don't know the severity because you need to get a scan to find out, but he's a pretty tough guy and it takes a lot for him to come off so I suspect it's something significant.
The Lions are already without premiership players Eric Hipwood (calf), Noah Answerth (Achilles) and Jack Payne (knee), as well as Keidean Coleman (quad) being unavailable for their finals tilt. Fagan said he hadn't yet considered the challenge of attempting to go back-to-back without Neale.
"Do I think we can win the premiership [without Lachie]? I haven't even thought about that. I'm just worried about trying to win a game next week. I'll probably stay neutral on the answer to that question. I don't know," he said.
"He's a great player so obviously he helps, and we've got quite a few other guys who are injured at the moment and not playing, so whether that adds up to too many injuries and makes it difficult, I'm not sure.
"We'll continue to play with spirit and go at the game and get out there next week and try and deliver a better performance than we delivered tonight. But give a lot of credit to Geelong tonight. They were magnificent. I imagine their coach would be incredibly proud of the way they played. I know I would be if I was him."
Geelong got the early jump by registering 10 scoring shots in the first quarter and would have held a five-goal lead at half-time if not for a controversial double goal for Cam Rayner on the cusp of the main break.
But the Cats were too powerful after that in clinching the win by 38 points, with Fagan saying his side couldn’t match Geelong’s early impetus.
"I thought Geelong's pressure and intensity and reaction time was sharper than us tonight and it showed around the contest and at stoppages and one-on-one contests around the ground, " he said.
"They were really ready to go tonight. I thought we were, but they were much better than us. They were in charge of the game from the word go."