BRISBANE fully expects two-time Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale to be tagged by St Kilda on Friday night – and they'll be ready.
Neale was at his match-winning best in the Lions' last-start triumph over the Western Bulldogs, racking up 38 disposals, including 10 clearances, and kicking two goals.
The following night at Marvel Stadium, Saint Marcus Windhager put the clamps on Gold Coast co-captain Touk Miller to help propel his team to a much-needed win.
With taggers seemingly back in vogue around the competition, Brisbane coach Chris Fagan expects his champion midfielder to be in the Saints' crosshairs at the Gabba in the first game of round 14.
"Lachie gets attention most weeks … it's nothing new for us," Fagan said on Thursday morning.
"We expect someone like Windhager will come to him. He did a good job last week on Touk Miller, albeit Touk is a little bit of a different player to Lachie.
"No doubt there'll be some planning around Lachie or maybe one of our other midfielders."
Windhager has had the job on Neale previously, with mixed results.
Fagan said dealing with opposition taggers was something Brisbane had spoken about collectively.
"In the pre-season when you go through your gameplan in general, whether it's Lachie Neale or another player getting tagged, there's always a small focus on trying to make sure we give that person a little bit of help, that's just part of being a good team," he said.
"Obviously, it's a bit confronting when it first happens to you, but once it becomes a regular occurrence you have strategies to overcome that.
"The important part about that, when someone is getting tagged, is they continue to play a role for the team. Lachie has always got his head around that."
Brisbane has won its last four matches against St Kilda, and six of its past seven, but Fagan said he didn't care for the past, and was more concerned with current day form.
"I don't think you can sit around and talk about St Kilda all week," he said.
"I reckon that's one of the big traps. We've just got to do what we do really well, and if we do, we'll challenge them."
