Dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale and Abbey Holmes have cleared the air on the “surprising” interest in their post-game kiss on Channel 7.
The AFL star was interviewed by Holmes after Brisbane’s win over the Western Bulldogs 10 days ago, but it was their brief embrace afterwards that bizarrely made headlines.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Lachie Neale speaks on Sunrise.
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Neale and Holmes kissed on the cheek and had a laugh as the footballer returned to his teammates.
Days later it became a discussion point about workplace conduct, with Sunrise host Matt Shirvington giving Neale the chance to respond on Monday.
He chuckled and declared: “I probably don’t want to give much air time to it, to be honest. It is a little bit surprising.”
Shirvo asked if Neale considered himself mates with Holmes.
“I know her personally as well. She’s just an easy person to relax around, right?” the Olympian said.
Neale said: “Absolutely. I’m very good friends with Abbey.”
“She’s a great person, she’s built great relationships in the industry and obviously outside of it as well,” Neale added.
Holmes won the 2017 AFLW premiership with Adelaide before moving into commentary with Channel 7.
“Fantastic player, fantastic commentator,” Shirvo said.
“That’s why it makes you guys — the players — feel comfortable around her and that’s why these things happen.”
Holmes said it was “really upsetting” that a columnist had “blown (it) up out of proportion” by writing about the kiss, which she said did not make her feel uncomfortable, more than a week after the fact and without asking for her opinion.
“It’s really frustrating for me. Lachie is a good friend of mine, so that’s just something that you do — you greet your friends, whether that’s a hug or a kiss on the cheek,” Holmes told LiSTNR’s Footy Talk.
“Kate Halfpenny wrote the article. But does she know my relationship with Lachie? Does she know that he’s a good friend of mine?
“If she had have done her due diligence ahead of writing that article, I think she might feel a little bit differently and might not have actually written it in the first place.”
Holmes decided to speak out because she felt the non-story was “unfair” to her and her colleagues in footy.
“The one thing that did upset me was the professionalism aspect of that article,” she said.
“I’ve worked so hard over such a long period of time now to build relationships, to build trust, to build rapport with these players and coaches and make them feel like they are in a really safe space when they’re with me. And that’s what probably upset me the most.”
“I don’t want my friends to feel uncomfortable in how they going to greet me or say goodbye to me. That’s not fair. I just feel as though that article was taken out of proportion massively.”
Holmes said Neale’s wife Jules messaged her to check in amid the ‘ridiculous’ reaction.
Neale appeared on Sunrise to discuss Vehicle for Kindness, a Bank of Queensland initiative to donate winter supplies and other essentials to people in need around Queensland.
The move ties in with OrangeSky, which offers showers, laundry services and breakfasts to people experiencing hardship.
“It’s an amazing initiative,” Neale said.
On the field, Brisbane have won two games in a row and four of their last six as last year’s grand finalists launch their push to return to the top eight.
They will face Port Adelaide, who by contrast have lost two in a row, in Adelaide on Saturday.
“We’re feeling pretty good, a bit of momentum over the last four to six weeks,”
“We’ve got a tough game coming up this weekend so we’re looking forward to that challenge.
“Hopefully we can make a bit of a push in the last 10-11 games and play some finals footy but there’s a long way to go.
“The comp’s so even, so we feel like if we can hang in there and play some good footy we might be able to sneak a spot in there and make a run at it.”
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