David King calls for major AFL crackdown as eye-opening footage of Lachie Neale emerges

AFL great David King has called on umpires to "wise up" to the questionable tactics being used against some of the game's best on-ballers such as Lachie Neale. The two-time Brownlow Medallist was instrumental in Brisbane's 13-point win over West Coast at Optus Stadium on Sunday, tallying 34 disposals, 13 clearances and two goals to help the Lions clinch a sixth straight victory.

Brisbane's stunning run has seen them jump into the top four but the way the Eagles targeted Neale by holding him back in contests left King fuming throughout the match. The North Melbourne dual premiership great said it was clear the Eagles had a plan to nullify Neale, but often crossed the line in terms of what should be deemed acceptable by AFL officials.

Speaking on on Fox Footy’s First Crack, King showed a number of clips where Neale had his arms held back by an opposition player as he was about to contest a stoppage. And the Kangaroos legend insists it's happening all too often to Neale and many of the game's biggest superstars, with King calling on umpires to crack down on the alarming trend.

“I’ll tell you what’s happening to him, the ‘Lachie Lasso’ he is getting grabbed at every stoppage,” King said about the Lions star. “So far this year, he’s been given four free kicks for being held in stoppage. It happened all day today and I couldn’t stop watching it. It happens every week, the club don’t complain about it because they understand, ‘we’re not going to get a result if we whinge’.”

One clip that King highlighted on the program showed Neale’s left arm being held by West Coast's Tim Kelly at a ball-up, while another showed an Eagles player pinning both hands down and forcing Neale into a wild mis-hit kick. “Look at this, you shouldn’t be able to get away with this. We’ve got 100 umpires out there and no one sees this," King fumed.

"No one sees the arm wrapped around, look at this, he almost skis him into the stoppage. Look at that, how do you not see that?” St Kilda champion Leigh Montagna agreed, saying: “If that’s a defender on a forward it gets paid every day." Port Adelaide's Zak Butters also complained last week about “a bit of stuff off the ball”, having been similarly targeted during the Power's round 17 win over the Western Bulldogs.

David King wants umpire crackdown over ugly tactics

King says the AFL and the game's umpires have a duty to players and fans to “get this right” and allow the game's biggest superstars to shine without being illegally targeted. And he said the fact Neale has only been awarded four holding free kicks at stoppage all year shows it's clearly an issue for the Lions star.

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“What’s the difference? These are marquee players; we’ve got to let the marquee players attack the game and be able to play," King added. "If you want to tag them, it’s against the odds that you get the job done, holding and grappling should not be part of your weaponry and I hope the umpires wise up to this.

"I think Neale’s the one who is paying the biggest price – four free kicks for the year – how many stoppages do you think he’s been in for the year? It would’ve been thousands. That’s wrong, I think we need to look at this. I’m putting it on the umpires to get this right.”