Brisbane Lions midfield maestro Lachie Neale is the number one footballer in the state - in any code - yet the best player many Queensland sports fans have never seen.
And if they have seen him, even just walking down the street, they might not know they are in the presence of a man whose sustained excellence is changing the balance of power in Queensland football.
On the field Neale is the Lions statistical Superman but off it, in Brisbane, he has been able to live like Clark Kent.
When Neale was asked to move into an AFL bubble this year some hard core AFL supporters quipped he was already living in one ... Queensland.
He’d come from AFL-mad Perth and the Fremantle Dockers into a world where rugby league swamps everything and noticed the change of temperature immediately.
"Everyone recognises you in Perth,’’ Neale said. “Here it is a lot more relaxed.
“When I first got here the Lions had come off a five win season the year before. There was no fanfare. But I did feel last year when we got up and going a lot more people became interested and I started to feel a real shift to the AFL.
"But it is very different. There was no too much fun going out in public after a big loss when you play for a Perth team.''
Today the Sunday-Mail chooses its top 10 Queensland-based footballers from AFL, NRL, rugby union and soccer and there were tough calls aplenty - but only between Nos 2-10.
Neale at No 1 was the easiest choice of all, perched as he is at the top of the betting as a white hot $1.60 favourite to win the AFL’s Brownlow Medal for the competition's best player. Richmond’s Dustin Martin is rated the next biggest threat at a faraway $13.
I'LL PLAY ANYTHING
In an era where sports are obsessed about turning athletes into sportsmen, Neale stands out for being an old-fashioned footballer in the true sense of the word.
His skills were hardwired as a youngster by thousands of games of football, cricket, basketball and tennis so that by the time he reached senior level his moves were as instinctive as a touch typist's and so varied that he could be the cattle dog, the conductor and most things in between.
Anything that was round and moved he kicked, bowled, slogged or swatted for hours on end and if no-one would take him on he'd play himself.
One theory about his exceptional talent is that he is the last of the generation of Aussie youngsters who preferred to pick up a bat or ball than a mobile phone and was much happier in his backyard than indoors playing computer games.
"There is certainly a lot more technology nowadays than when I was growing up. I used to set up our living room at home as a football field. There was a doorway at each end which were the goals.
"I used to do a whole season and write the scores to every game. I would play all the teams but I was a Port supporter so Port always had a couple of losses throughout the season but they came back and won every time. They won 10 of my premierships in a row. I dreamed about being Gavin Wanganeen but his skills are much silkier than mine.
"Since the age of four, I have been playing little games with friends and family. Even when I was at school I just wanted to get out and kick the footy. I think the repetition of it all has helped for sure. I don't think I was the best student ...''
THE COUNTRY KID
Neale is very much a product of the open air environment he grew up in in rural South Australia.
His parents split when he was one and his mother and step father live on a farm in the fly's footprint of Kybybolite on the Victorian-South Australian border while his father lives an hour away in the scenic coastal town of Robe.
Like a lot of farm boys they move on from the land but deep down they never leave.
When the COVID crisis shut down the competition he headed straight back to the farm to see his family.
Kybybolite has a population of 107 and while he could not name them all he claims his mother could "rattle off every house.''
THE BROWNLOW CHANCE
Long time Lions followers say Neale's form is taking them back to a golden run by the great Simon Black who steamed his way to the 2002 Brownlow Medal with Neale-like slickness.
During that period Black was so predictably good it was as if in every game the three Brownlow votes were his to lose and Neale, particularly now that he is slotting more goals, has a similar aura.
“He is a wonderful player who has taken his game to a new level this season,’’ Black said of Neale. “He is just so clean below his knees and he sees things around him very well.’’
In seven games this season Neale has a goal and 25-plus possessions with the next best doing it in just three games. Some suggest he has 20 Brownlow votes already but he is not counting his chickens nor his Charlie.
"I’m just focussing on getting wins for the team. You never really know what the umpires are going to do at the end of a game – it’s is out of my control.''
DRAFT NIGHT
Much was made of the fact Neale was recruited by the Lions as a double act with Lincoln McCarthy, his long time close friend from their teenage days with Glenelg in the South Australian League.
The Lions felt The Power of Two would make the transition easier for both but the duo did not want things to look too cosy and wanted each deal to stand on its merit.
"We have the same manager (Tim Lawrence) who is a family friend but we really want to keep our reasons for shifting separate. We did not want to co-conspire to get to the same place.
"It had to be the right choice for each of us. It could not be a case of us playing together as mates. We were really strong on that.''
One of Neale's major memories of McCarthy is sitting with him when Neale went at 58 and McCarthy 66 in the 2011 national draft.
"It was stressful. I remember being a bit selfish for 30 seconds after my name was announced because I was over the moon. I cried but then I thought "oh shit I better hold my breath for Linc.' When he got picked up it was amazing.''
WHY THE LIONS
Brisbane was never part of Neale's master plan to come to the Lions but being the keen football watcher he is he could sense something was stirring in the den.
"I watched a fair bit of their games in the back half of the season (before he signed). They were not winning but they were only losing by two or three goals and you could see they were on the verge of breaking through. I was really impressed with the young core of guys coming through.
"I knew they would be a good side fairly quickly.. Before that I had not really thought about moving at all. I felt I could add to this group and the group could really add to my game and take it to another level.''
Footballers often fall into two categories once their game is over - those who want to get away from it and those who cannot get enough.
Neale is a self-confessed footy nerd who, if he is playing on Saturday afternoon, might watch Friday night's game, another on Saturday night and two on Sunday. He has done several coaching courses and is all ears for any pearls dropped by Lions coach Chris Fagan.
"I like that side of the game and hope to be involved post footy and Fages has been a good mentor for me in that space.’’
"He is often calling up sharing with me things he is thinking about.’’
THE MENTAL GAME
Some footballers like a hit of AC-DC and a few crackling backslaps to get them in the mood for the contest.
Neale is the opposite. He's not into the backslap culture and looks deep and quietly within himself before a game.
The mellow music he has listened to all of his career is by indie duo Angus and Julia Stone, the sort of comforting tunes that, if you heard them in a doctor's waiting room, would ease your pre-visit tension.
But his skill set is more scythe than sledgehammer so there's no point preparing like a boxer. "My one wood is my hands in close, my cleanliness. I try not to fumble. I don't carry on before a game. I know it's different to a lot of guys but it works for me. I have tried the pump up stuff and it did not work.''
When Neale returned to the family farm during the COVID break he saw the old tennis court and basketball ring he knew so well and felt a sense of appreciation at what they had done for his career.
On Monday night in grand final week, when the last envelope is opened on Brownlow Medal night, you sense he might just feel more grateful than ever.
