Lachie Neale’s massive confession about children following split from wife Jules

Speaking ahead of his milestone 300th AFL game on Sunday afternoon, Neale has opened up in recent interviews about how he has coped since news of his marriage breakdown emerged in December.

He has now shared telling new details about the status of his relationship with Jules.

Despite Jules posting on Instagram she had been “betrayed in the most unimaginable way” the pair are on good enough terms that the footballer has been making regular trips to Perth to see her and their children, Piper, 4, and Freddie, 1.

Jules moved to Perth with their children after it was alleged the two-time Brownlow Medal winner had an affair with Tess Crosley, who had previously been one of Jules’ closest friends.

Neale remains under contract with the Lions until the end of the 2026 season and remained in Brisbane when the rest of the family moved to Western Australia to be closer to Jules’ family.

Neale moved into an apartment and the couple sold their house in February.

Despite this, Neale has now told The Age he is making it work.

“It’s obviously tough not having the kids here, but I’m pretty lucky that Jules, their mother, allows me to come and go from Perth,” Neale said.

“I get Piper over here a fair bit … I am very fortunate that Jules has been very flexible with that, and I am able to go back to Perth with the club’s blessing whenever I want.

“If I have to miss a day of training or whatever they are happy for that to happen. I am managing that pretty well so far. It is only early in the year, but the footy season will just fly by, and it will be the off-season again.”

Lions coach Chris Fagan said in January the club will not stand in Neale’s way should he choose to move to Perth to play for West Coast or Fremantle for the 2027 AFL season.

It has been widely reported Neale’s first preference is to sign a contract extension with the Lions.

According to The Age, Neale won’t be making a decision until August.

“I honestly haven’t thought [about] what I will do next year – that will come in 12 weeks,” Neale said.

“At the moment, I am just trying to make it work here in Brisbane and, for me, if it works well and everyone is happy – and the kids are the No.1 priority – and we think we can make it work playing here, I would love to stay, but we will wait and see how it plays out.”

Neale earlier this week admitted he “felt like I let a lot of people down” in a rare interview.

The 32-year-old on Thursday opened up about the recent turmoil in his private life.

Speaking on Triple M, he said: “When it’s your personal lives and your private matters, you probably don’t think it’s newsworthy.

“In a sense, I get it, I’m the captain of a footy club and a public profile in a way, but it felt over the top.

“It was pretty crazy there for a while, and it’s great to have the footy back on, which has taken over the headlines.”

Neale, who stood down as Lions captain, claimed his footy career acted as a welcome distraction during that turbulent time in his personal life — during which wife Jules and their two kids left Brisbane for her hometown of Perth.

“I think in a way it was a form of therapy to just go and train and look after myself,” he said.

“I didn’t really drink at all or anything in that period, I felt like I really had to knuckle down and narrow my focus on my football and being there for my kids when I could.

“In a weird way, it helped my football. I was able to really concentrate on getting the most out of myself and making sure I was prepared.”

The Brownlow medallist was also quick to acknowledge his shortcomings and accepted he had made mistakes.

“I felt like I had let a lot of people down, so I wanted to redeem myself in a way, by the way I came back into the pre-season and games, in particular,” he said.

“It felt like a year and a half wait for that [first game] during the pre-season, but I was glad to get back on the field.

“I was itching to get back onto the field and do what I love.”

Neale was replaced as Lions captain by three of his teammates — Harris Andrews, Josh Dunkley and Hugh McCluggage.

And while many speculated he stepped down because of the off-field headlines, he has denied that was the case.

“I spoke to Fages [coach Chris Fagan] 12 months before, so heading into the 2025 season, and I said I think this will be my last year doing it (the captaincy),” he added.

“We didn’t really have any conversations through the year, and it felt like the right time.

“We had enough leaders there [in the club] that it felt like the right time to hand that over anyway.”

Neale also refused to rule out returning to Western Australia to play his footy in order to be closer to his children.

“I’m always thinking about it and what the future is going to look like,” he said.

“It’s in the back of my mind, but I brush it aside, we’re only five weeks into the season, but I think in about three or four months from now, I’ll tap into that.”

Neale has played in all five of the Lions’ AFL games at the start of this season — three wins and two losses.

After kicking off their campaign with back-to-back defeats, they are on a three-game winning run ahead of their clash with Melbourne on Sunday.

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