He may be weathering a scandal, but AFL star Lachie Neale showed no sign of strain as he checked out the balcony of his new Brisbane bachelor pad last Thursday.
The 32-year-old, who stepped aside as Brisbane Lions co-captain earlier this month following his highly publicised marriage split, was photographed with two friends as they enjoyed the city-skyline views of his new apartment.
Neale showed off the benefits of his AFL pre-season training as he went shirtless in a pair of tracksuit pants. He was joined for a two-hour visit by Gianluca Toscano, who works as a campaign strategist for Nova Radio and is followed by Neale on Instagram, and an unidentified woman.
He and Toscano appeared relaxed in each other’s company, smiling as they spoke and at one stage appearing to laugh as they looked at something below the balcony.
Daily Mail does not imply any romantic connection between Neale and the woman in the photographs and it’s entirely possible she was accompanying Toscano.
Neale had earlier been pictured looking glum as he chatted to removalists hauling various items of furniture and white goods, including a refrigerator and microwave.
He may be weathering a scandal, but AFL star Lachie Neale showed no sign of strain as he checked out the balcony of his new Brisbane bachelor pad last Thursday
A shirtless and smiling Neale was joined for a two-hour visit by Gianluca Toscano, who works as a campaign strategist for Nova Radio
The Brisbane Lions star was joined by an unidentified woman on his balcony (pictured) who may well have been accompanying Toscano
The $2.43million property in Seven Hills that Lachie and Jules once saw as their ‘forever home’ is now presumably vacant or being prepped for sale or leasing, with Jules back in Western Australia alongside her children, Piper, four, and Freddie, one.
Following his very public break-up, Neale’s future is now clouded not just personally, but also professionally.
He announced he had relinquished co-captaincy of the Lions at a press conference on January 2, during which he confirmed his marriage had broken down but refused to comment when asked point-blank whether he had cheated on his wife.
However, Neale did appear to blame himself for the split with Jules, saying: ‘While I will not go into specifics, I can say that I have let my family down and I apologise for my actions which have hurt those closest to me. And for that, I am deeply sorry.
‘I accept this as a consequence of my actions and I need to focus on rebuilding the trust with Jules as the future well-being of our children remains our number-one priority.’
His comments – and the fact he is only signed to the Lions until the end of the 2026 season – have led to heavy speculation that he could leave the club and head to Perth to be near his son and daughter once his contract is up.
Neale will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and he began his AFL career with Fremantle in 2012, spending eight years with the club.
He and Jules met while he was playing for the Dockers, and Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has given the two-time premiership winner his blessing for a move back to Western Australia.
The trio were at Neale’s apartment for at least two hours
There is plenty of speculation that Neale (pictured with Toscano) will leave the Lions and move to Western Australia to be near his children once his contract is up at the end of the season
The 32-year-old has the blessing of Lions coach Chris Fagan if he wants to leave the club
‘I hope he does [stay], but he’s an unrestricted free agent,’ Fagan said last week.
‘So he can make a call on what he needs to do. He probably needs the next six or seven months to see what the next right step is,’ he added.
‘I hope he stays and plays with us. But if he chooses to move back to Perth, because he needs to be close to his children, then he’ll do that with our blessing.
‘We’re not going to hold anyone to ransom. We’ll just go along with the flow on that.’
Fagan praised Neale for letting go of the co-captaincy.
‘Obviously, sad for Jules, sad for Lachie, sad for the children, sad that it’s become such a public thing,’ he said.
‘But our job as a footy club, as we do with all of our players, is that they all make mistakes from time to time because they’re human. Everybody standing here has probably made one at some point in time.
‘Our job is just to wrap our arms around him and his family and help them where we can. Outside of that, it’s a private issue.
‘We’ll look after him. I thought it was pretty brave what he did last week. He stood up and owned it. Not many people have to do that in the community.’
While Neale has been backed to the hilt by his coach, Jules has also received some high-profile support as she puts her life back together.
Neale is pictured with Jules after winning last year’s grand final. Late last year, she allegedly uncovered the ‘betrayal’ that ended their marriage
The two-time premiership winner relinquished the co-captaincy of the Lions and confirmed his marriage split at a press conference on January 2 (pictured)
Sources say she has privately thanked individuals for backing her during the ordeal.
Several high-profile WAGs and socialites are also rallying around her through supportive messages and likes on social media.
Earlier this month, Jules posted a video of her group of friends creating vision boards for 2026, calling on the universe to deliver love, wealth and happiness in the next year.
That saw Love Island star Tayla Broad respond with a love heart and praising-hands emoji.
She was joined by Kayla Boyd, the wife of former Brisbane Broncos NRL captain Darius Boyd, who commented: ‘You deserve it all, darling!’
Fitness guru Kayla Itsines added: ‘May the universe grant you every single thing on this list.’ Jules replied with a heart emoji.
The post also drew likes and comments from Emma Lyon, the wife of cricket star Nathan, AFL WAG Jessie Murphy, and AFLW great-turned-Channel Seven star Abbey Holmes.
Lachie and Jules’s break-up became public knowledge in late December when the Herald Sun reported the pair were ‘working through’ unspecified marital issues.
This sparked a furious public response from Jules, who said they weren’t ‘working through’ anything and that instead she’d been ‘betrayed in the most unimaginable way’.
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