Brisbane have named Lachie Neale for the AFL grand final after the dual Brownlow medallist ticked every box in his bid to return from a season-ending calf injury, while ruckman Rhys Stanley is back for Geelong.

The Lions officially put a line through Neale’s finals hopes on September 6 , just 24 hours after he limped out of their qualifying final loss to the Cats . But the midfielder has comfortably defied the club’s timeline of 4-6 weeks with round-the-clock treatment and several hours a week in hyperbaric chambers.

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Word began to filter through in the lead-up to last week’s preliminary final that Neale was a serious chance of returning for a potential decider — and his confidence was clear in multiple interviews before and afte

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