If you had asked Lachie Neale four years ago if he thought he would be playing in an AFL Grand Final in his second year of football he would have laughed at you.

In 2010, the then 17-year-old was omitted from Glenelg’s under 18s team just before the finals.

“It was pretty tough at the time, but it was probably a good thing,” Neale said.

“Getting dropped from the team made me realise I couldn’t take things for granted, and ever since then I haven’t taken a backwards step.”

In 2011 the midfielder played senior football for Glenelg in the SANFL, a season that Neale credits to preparing him for AFL.

“Playing footy with Glenelg after being dropped in the under 18s gave me the confidence that I could make it in the system,” Neale said.

Neale was selected at pick 58 in the 2011 National Draft and along with fellow South Australian, Cam Sutcliffe, were the only recruits from that draft to play in last year’s grand final.

“Coming to the club all I wanted to do was work hard and maybe get a few games and hopefully stay on the list,” Neale said.

“To be able to play in a grand final and have 23 games under my belt is a great experience but there is still something that is burning inside that we didn’t get the job done, so we’ve got a lot of unfinished business.”

With the full squad back into training for 2014, Neale said everyone was looking sharp on the track and there would be strong competition for spots.

“There is always pressure for spots, especially with our list at the moment, we have great depth,” he said.

“You have to be able to step up and perform or you will find yourself out of the team pretty quickly.”

“Everyone is raring to go, and I’m excited for the season to start.”