Brisbane Lions stars have ‘split up with their partners due to what happened on end-of-season trip to Las Vegas’
- Bomb claims were revealed on Friday afternoon
- Lions have lost three games in a row in the shock start to the season
- Undefeated at home in 2023; have lost two games there this year
Some Brisbane Lions stars have split with their partners over the messy fallout from their end-of-season trip to Las Vegas and teammates are having “tough conversations” with each other as a result, a report claims.
Footy reporter Sam McLure raised the claims on the radio station 3AW On Friday, team sources told him the fallout from the trip had nothing to do with the team suffering three consecutive defeats in a disastrous start to the season.
“From what people within the club have told me, there has certainly been a few headaches since the trip to America at the end of last year between 10 players, a fair proportion of which were Brisbane players,” McClure said.
‘It ended in Las Vegas and some information got to loved ones, but it didn’t go down very well.
Shattered Lions stars leave the field after their loss to Collingwood on Thursday evening. Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting any of these players are involved in the shocking report of an end-of-year trip to Las Vegas
‘It has caused rifts in some relationships. It has caused other relationships between players and partners to end.
“In fact, there have been suggestions made to me today that it has led to some difficult conversations between teammates about what happened on that US trip.”
McClure’s fellow commentator, former Lions coach Leigh Matthews – who sits on the club’s board – said he was unaware of the situation until he found out just before going on air, and said it had not been discussed by the top of the team.
After coming within a whisker of winning last year’s grand final against Collingwood, the Lions have suffered losses to Carlton, Fremantle and the Pies – with two of those defeats coming at home, where the team remains undefeated in 2023.
Lachie Neale (pictured on Thursday night) criticized his teammates for ‘sh***ing’ each other in an unusual outburst after their season-opening defeat to Carlton. Daily Mail Australia does not suggest he is in any way involved in the reported fallout from the Vegas trip
After the season-opening defeat to Carlton, Lions superstar Lachie Neale unleashed an unusual outburst as he accused some players of ‘shaking’ their teammates.
“(There was) a bit of selfishness… we probably took some easy options,” he said after the Blues came roaring back from a big deficit to win.
“We didn’t look into it and you’re actually making fun of your teammates.”
After the loss to Collingwood on Thursday night, coach Chris Fagan admitted they were in a ‘little slump’ and that it was his job to help his players rediscover their magic – but said the answer to their shocking form was ‘not obvious lying’.
Lions coach Chris Fagan (pictured on Thursday night) says there is no easy way out of the team’s dip in form which has seen them lose two from two at home this year after going unbeaten at the Gabba for the entire 2023 season.
“Some of our players are not at their best at the moment; I can’t tell you why,” he said.
‘That’s sport for you.
‘It’s a nice challenge. You talk to them about what they are good at and reinforce that.
‘Form comes and goes. So it’s just positivity, but also honesty. They have been good players, we will not press the panic button.
“I’ve trusted them for a long time and they’ve delivered, so I’m not going to jump off them just because we’ve lost three in a row.”