It might be denial, but looking at each game in isolation kind of gives me a bit of confidence he can turn it around:
Game 1 vs Swans: Rarely scores well against the Swans, so I put that down as an expected result for him. Looking at it closer, not one player hit 30 disposals for the game (highest was 29 and Neale got 24 which was 2nd highest for his team).
Game 2 vs Geelong: Geelong beat the absolute crap out of Neale in this game, exceptionally physical and highest disposals for the game from a Lion was 25. Pretty hard to expect Neale to get a lot of ball when only 3 of his team mates hit 20 disposals. Even Geelong’s highest disposal getter achieved 28. Looking at those stats again, it’s crazy that the Lions were even in the game.
Game 3 vs Pies: 21 disposals after majority of them in the first half. Was almost perfect the first half and then as the ball got more contested and a lack of handball clearances were had, the ball avoided Neale completely. 30 was the highest amount of disposals and that was Pendlebury who found himself in space a lot towards the end and got some very cheap disposals.
Ratios is what I also look at too, considering Neale’s back injury. To have 14 kicks vs 7 handballs this week, when he had 8 and 7 in the first two rounds, tells me that his back is getting better. You don’t go for the kick option as much when your back is bothering you, as it’s a sure fire way to flare it up.
Lastly, the Lions have played in 2 losses and a very tight win where they’ve come from behind (practically all game) to do it. Neale’s big scores have generally come from strong wins or games where they have been dominant in possession from the first quarter. We have yet to see that this season.
It could be blind optimism, but beyond rd 4 I can see a turnaround in Neale’s fortune.