Tess Crosley’s cryptic Instagram message has taken on a striking new meaning after it was revealed to be a line from a famous poem about infidelity.
The glamorous Mormon missionary, who has found herself at the centre of Lachie and Julie Neale’s marriage breakdown, posted two images of herself earlier this week wearing a head scarf while sitting on a boat.
She captioned the photos: ‘There is always another story, there is more than meets the eye.’
It has since emerged the line appears in The Secret is Out by renowned British-American poet W.H. Auden – a poem that references gossip, betrayal and ‘wicked secrets’.
The poem opens: ‘At last the secret is out, as it always must come in the end… Still waters run deep, my dear, there’s never smoke without fire.’
It concludes with the line: ‘There is always a wicked secret, a private reason for this.’
Tess Crosley published a cryptic message on social media on Tuesday, writing that there is ‘more than meets the eye.’
Julie had demanded Tess delete photos of herself celebrating the Lions’ premiership victory in September alongside the Neales and her husband Ben
Crosley had turned off comments on the post.
The saga emerged back in December after Julie publicly claimed that she had been ‘betrayed in the most unimaginable way’.
Lachie later announced in January that he and Julie were separating, while adding that he would also be stepping down as the Brisbane Lions captain.
Crosley has remained active on social media as details of the Neales’ split have continued to emerge, with the Mormon missionary notably taking to Instagram last month to publish a photo of herself celebrating her 30th birthday.
The 30-year-old also posted images on the Gold Coast this week wearing a brown balconette-style bikini with G-string bottoms, appearing relaxed and confident during a beach outing.
She accessorised with sunglasses, gold earrings and a ring on her right middle finger, while her wedding finger was noticeably bare.
The sighting comes amid ongoing speculation about her marriage to Ben following the fallout from the highly publicised split between Julie and AFL star Lachie Neale.
The appearance came just weeks after Tess’ former best friend posted a string of sizzling bikini photos that fans quickly dubbed the ultimate ‘revenge’ display aimed at her estranged husband Lachie.
Crosley spend time at the beach on the Gold Coast this week, soaking up the sun in a brown bikini
Crosley was all smiles and was not wearing her wedding ring after reportedly splitting from her husband Ben
The glamorous Mormon missionary from Brisbane was one of Julie’s best friends, but it seems their relationship has collapsed, with Tess and Julie also no longer following each other on Instagram.
Crosley was also seen not wearing her wedding ring in the new Instagram photos.
She is yet to break her silence on the saga surrounding Lachie and Julie’s separation.
Rumours began to bubble in December that Lachie and Julie were experiencing some issues in their relationship.
Julie later took to social media to speak on the speculation: ‘I want to make it very clear that I am not ‘working through’ anything,’ she wrote. ‘I have been betrayed in the most unimaginable way.’
She would later hit out at Crosley in a now-deleted Instagram post, demanding the 30-year-old take down images of herself and her husband Ben celebrating the Queensland AFL club’s premiership victory alongside Lachie and Julie.
‘Take these down, you idiot, you’re embarrassing yourself,’ Julie wrote.
Lachie would later announce that he and Julie had split up.
Crosley has found herself in the centre of her former friend Julie’s (left) split from Brisbane Lions player Lachie Neale (right)
Lachie and Julie are in the process of selling their $2.43million luxury Seven Hills home, with Lachie having moved into his own apartment in Brisbane
‘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,’ he told reporters during a press conference in January.
There is no suggestion by Daily Mail of any wrongdoing by Tess.
This week, Lachie broke his silence on social media as he jetted to Western Australia to spend time with his son Freddie and daughter Piper, who attended her first day at kindergarten.
Julie has since moved back to her home state of Western Australia with her two children and has also been posting regularly on Instagram.
She celebrated her son, Freddie’s first birthday by publishing several snaps of her baby boy on the social media platform, while also sharing images of herself enjoying the summer with her friends.
She and Lachie appear to be in the process of selling their $2.43million luxury Seven Hills home, with Lachie having moved into his own apartment in Brisbane.
The Brisbane midfielder linked up with members of his team last week for a pre-season training camp on the Sunshine Coast.
He was due to appear for a live Q&A show alongside team-mate Dayne Zorko last Friday, but the show was postponed due to low ticket sales. Organisers confirmed to this masthead that Neale will no longer be appearing at the rescheduled show in March.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan explained that Neale was having his ‘best pre-season in years’.
‘It hasn’t really affected things too much,’ Fagan told SEN.
‘It’s not like we sit around having meetings with the players and talk about it.
‘It’s just been myself, (Lions football boss) Danny (Daly) and Lachie.
‘To Lachie’s credit, in terms of the way that he’s training and going about things, he’s having his best pre-season in a long while.
‘Normally, he’s finished (other seasons) quite injured and been in rehab, but this year he had no injury.
‘He’s been able to train fully and is in the best shape he’s been in for ages.
‘He’s in a good place at the moment, obviously got a bit going on personally, but he seems to be coping with that pretty well.’
The Lions get their 2026 title defence underway against the Western Bulldogs on March 7.
