LACHIE Neale is in serious doubt for Brisbane's match against Adelaide on Saturday as he nurses a calf niggle.
The Brownlow medallist took no part in the Lions' training session at Collingwood's Olympic Park facilities on Thursday morning, instead relegated to work on a stationary bike.
The calf is a fresh injury for Neale, who hurt his shoulder early in last Thursday night's win over Geelong before playing the match out.
Brisbane is scheduled to play the Crows at Adelaide Oval on Saturday afternoon, although the venue is still to be locked in as the AFL navigates the latest COVID outbreaks around the country.
Travelling on a plane would decrease Neale's chances of playing.
Not only would time in the air be detrimental to healing a calf, so too would sitting around for hours on game day awaiting negative COVID test results as the Lions would have to do.
MEDICAL ROOM The full AFL injury list
Neale has struggled for continuity this season, managing a back problem in the early rounds before missing five weeks after undergoing surgery for a syndesmosis injury.
Flying Irish defender James Madden has already been ruled out after breaking a bone in his hand that will sideline him for one to two weeks.
