Brisbane coach Chris Fagan expects one of his midfielders to receive extra attention when they host St Kilda at the Gabba on Friday.
With a host of likely candidates suiting up for the Lions, it would make the most sense if Ross Lyon's tagger targeted two-time Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale.
St Kilda youngster Marcus Windhager has quickly created a sterling reputation for quelling the influence of the opposition's best players, taking down West Coast's Harley Reid and Gold Coast's Touk Miller in recent times.
Windhager also has a history of being sent to Neale, with his most impressive performance coming in Round 22, 2022, limiting the former Docker to 16 possessions.
Fagan said that the Lions have become used to the attention the No.9 receives and is well equipped to deal with it.
"More than likely," Fagan said.
"Lachie gets attention most weeks, to be honest, so it's nothing new for us.
"We expect someone like a Windhager will come to him... he did a good job last week on Touk Miller albeit Touk's a different player to Lachie.
"And I think he went to Harley Reid in the second half the previous week so no doubt there'll be planning around Lachie or one of our other midfielders.
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"In the pre-season, when you're going through your game plan, for any player, 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 in a good team."
AFL coaches are giving a glimpse into yesteryear, bringing the tagger back in vogue.
Whilst the Saints have Windhager, Brisbane have opted to use Jarrod Berry in a similar vein and could be in line to do the same on Friday.
Fagan was coy about the likelihood of Berry heading toward an opposition player but is something the club "has up their sleeve".
The Lions coach also provided an update on wunderkind Will Ashcroft, who is returning from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury late last year.
Ashcroft is aiming to reemerge from the sidelines in Round 16 or 17.
