LUKE Hodge and his Brisbane teammates were relaxing at a season-ending celebration in 2018 when CEO Greg Swann hinted that a rival star was on his way to join the Lions.

But Swann refused to spill the beans.

That star was Fremantle gun Lachie Neale, whose arrival at Brisbane was a key moment in the club's rise from cellar-dweller to dynasty-maker.

In episode four of Return of the Pride, a new six-part podcast series on AFL.com.au that tracks the Lions' rise back to the top of the AFL, hosts Josh Gabelich and Michael Whiting explore Brisbane's successful big-name hunt as the rebuild gathered pace.  

>> LISTEN TO EPISODE FOUR OF RETURN OF THE PRIDE BELOW

"We were at mad Monday … and I remember (CEO) Greg Swann saying that we've got an A-grader that we think will be coming to the club," Hodge recalled. 

"We went through sort of who's on the table, who looks like (coming), and we guessed for about an hour and Swanny couldn't tell us.

"Then all of a sudden it came out a few weeks later. And we're like, yeah, I almost fell off my seat. It's a good get."

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But the former Docker's move may not have happened if another all-time great at the other end of his career hadn't already made the trip north.

In many minds, Hodge's two-year stint at Brisbane to end his decorated career that had already reaped four premierships and two Norm Smith medals at Hawthorn was the catalyst for supercharging the Lions' build from the depths of the 'Go-Home Five' at the end of 2013.

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan, who was football boss at the Hawks for most of Hodge's time at the club, says Hodge's influence was an integral part of the 2024 and 2025 premierships, even though he had finished his playing career five years earlier.

"Before we knew what 'Hodgey' was here, one of the most important things that ever happened to our footy club occurred, which is him turning up and setting a great example to all the young players," Fagan said.

"They looked up to him so much and made it so much easier for us to recruit players because Luke Hodge had come to our club.

"You know, Lachie Neale said, I want to come because I want to play with Hodgey. And that's true. And Hodgey probably wouldn't want to take any of the credit for it, but I reckon it was one of those fluky things that happened in footy. It was like one of those 'Sliding Doors' moments that made a huge difference to our growth as a footy club." 

Episode four of Return of the Pride delves into the cloak-and-dagger dealings that set up Neale's move from Fremantle, including a meeting at a Mexican restaurant on the Darwin waterfront, and the dinner at Fagan's home that sealed the deal. 

Luke Hodge, Chris Fagan, Neale's manager Tim Lawrence, Hodge's manager Paul Connors, Lions list manager Dom Ambrogio and more join hosts Josh Gabelich and Michael Whiting for an in-depth look at how the Lions returned to greatness. 

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