Veteran AFL reporter Caroline Wilson has criticised Jules Neale and Tess Crosley for publicly discussing the collapse of the Lachie Neale marriage in separate podcast interviews, questioning why they chose to reveal such private details on the eve of the finals.
Speaking on Channel Seven’s The Agenda Setters, Wilson said she had watched and listened to both interviews but could not understand what either woman hoped to achieve by speaking out.
“I cannot understand why either woman chose to do it, who is advising them and what they thought it would achieve,” she said.
Jules Neale, 36, discussed the breakdown of her marriage to Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale on the Pretty Sure podcast last week. She said she had discovered that her husband had been involved in a four-month affair with Tess Crosley, a former close friend.
Crosley, 30, later gave her first direct interview about the scandal on Daily Mail Australia’s The Debrief with Savanna Young. She spoke about the end of her friendship with Jules, the scrutiny she had faced and the decisions she said she deeply regretted.
The timing of the interviews has drawn particular attention because Lachie Neale is expected to play a prominent role for Brisbane during the AFL finals campaign. Seven News reported that the Lions learned about Jules Neale’s podcast through the player’s manager, while the club’s media department became aware of Crosley’s interview separately. ([7news.com.au](https://7news.com.au/sport/afl/brisbane-cop-new-lachie-neale-distraction-they-dont-need-on-eve-of-finals-with-jules-neale-and-tess-crosley-podcasts-c-22777213.amp?utm_source=openai))
Wilson stressed that her criticism was not intended to determine whose account was correct, saying she was making “absolutely no comment” on the intensely private claims aired by the two women.
“Nor do I have any clue on whether this will affect Lachie Neale or whether I care whether it affects Brisbane’s finals campaign,” she said. “Nor do I have any particular sympathy for Lachie Neale at this stage. Nor am I taking sides in any way at all.”
Caroline Wilson questions the decision to speak publicly
Her concern, she said, was why the pair had chosen to communicate their private lives through high-profile interviews in an era when social media attention and audience figures could quickly amplify personal disclosures.
“Why, in an era where social media and their hits reign supreme, why they chose to communicate their private lives in this way,” Wilson said.
During her interview, Crosley addressed online rumours that the friendship group had been involved in a secret swinging arrangement. She did not provide intimate details but said there had been “a lot of context that people don’t know” and described the relationship as a friendship that had “got way too close”.
She also rejected speculation that Lachie Neale was the father of her young son, Beau, calling the claim “100 per cent a rumour” and saying: “There’s no truth to it at all.”
Crosley said she had been “lovebombed” during the affair and accepted responsibility for her actions, while maintaining that other circumstances in her life had contributed to the situation.
Jules Neale, meanwhile, said Lachie had cheated on her with multiple women and described the aftermath as a profound loss of trust. She also revealed that the couple had initially planned to keep their separation private before she published a social media message saying she had been “betrayed in the most unimaginable way”.
Lachie Neale has not provided a detailed public account of the allegations. He confirmed the separation earlier this year, stepped down as Brisbane co-captain and apologised, saying he had let his family down. ([mamamia.com.au](https://www.mamamia.com.au/jules-neale-tess-crosley/))
