Glamorous wife of Brownlow Medal hero Lachie Neale opens up on why she broke down in tears as he accepted AFL's highest individual honour

Lachie Neale's wife Julie has opened up on her break down during her husband's Brownlow Medal acceptance speech.

The Brisbane Lions superstar won the AFL's most prestigious award by ten votes on Sunday night before giving special praise to his partner.

The 27-year-old revealed Ms Neale sold a successful beauty salon in Perth after his decision to leave the Fremantle Dockers to join the Lions in 2018. 

'She always puts me ahead of herself when she shouldn't have to,' Neale said in his acceptance speech.

'She's the most selfless person I know and my biggest support, so thank you very much Jules.'

Lachie Neale's wife Julie (pictured together) broke down during the Brisbane Lions star's Brownlow Medal acceptance speech

Ms Neale was moved to tears after the touching tribute to her personal sacrifice and revealed the decision to move to Brisbane was left in her hands.

'I kind of knew was the right move for Lachie and footy and it was a decision I decided to make myself. He didn’t pressure me. He said "We’ll stay here". He felt Perth was home. He said "It is completely up to you",' she told Courier Mail.

The couple had strong roots in WA, with Ms Neale owning a hair salon in Mosman Park near Fremantle for three years.

But after meeting with staff from the Lions, the 30-year-old hairdresser knew it was the right decision for the pair to move to Queensland.

The couple got married in Perth a month after Neale announced the shock trade, with Ms Neale moving to work at Mikki Auld Hairdressing at West End.

Ms Neale said the move has not been easy, but watching her husband's success at his new club with his emphatic Brownlow Medal victory made it all worth it.

Ms Neale was left in tears after her husband called her the most selfless person he knows

Ms Neale revealed she made the final decision for the couple (pictured together) to move to Brisbane

'It’s been a tough year away from family and friends. We left a lot to move here. It was a big decision for us and for me to leave the business I had. I’ve never lived away from my family,' she said. 

Neale grew up in a small town called Kybybolite about 300 kilometres southeast of Adelaide in South Australia.

He played for the Kybybolite Tigers in his youth and drove 2,000km with his wife to return home during the coronavirus pandemic to work on the family farm while the AFL season was paused.

Neale was drafted to the Fremantle Dockers in 2011 where he was introduced to his future wife in a nightclub by former Dockers teammate Matthew Pavlich.

But it wasn't love at first sight for the couple, with Ms Neale thinking he was way too young with a likeness and matching haircut with One Direction star Harry Styles.

'The first time I met Jules I was 18 and I asked Pav to introduce me to her,' Neale said at the 2019 Brownlow Medal event.

'He came back and said: "She’s not interested in an 18-year-old Harry Styles looking kid".'

The couple reconnected six years later and became engaged in 2017.

The 30-year-old (pictured with her husband) said it was hard to leave behind her hair salon and family and friends and head to Brisbane

Ms Neale thought the AFL superstar (pictured left) had a likeness to One Directions' Harry Styles (pictured right with Stevie Nicks) when they first met in a night club nine years ago

Neale's (pictured with his wife) career has flourished since moving to the Lions, earning an All-Australian selection in 2019 before taking out the Brownlow in 2020

'We were both young and had a lot of learning and growing to do. We reconnected in our mid 20s and things were a little different. We moved in together after three months and were engaged nine months after that,' Ms Neale said.

Neale played six seasons at the Dockers before being traded to Brisbane at the end of the 2018 season. 

He thrived at his new club, earning an All-Australian selection in 2019 before taking out the Brownlow in 2020, with seven best on ground efforts in the opening 11 rounds of the competition.

'It’s unbelievable,' Neale said in his Brownlow acceptance speech.

'I feel really humbled to be in this position and to be amongst some of those (Brownlow Medalists’) names is still pretty crazy for me.

'The boy from "Kyby", never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be standing here today.'

Neale poses with the Brownlow Medal at South Bank Streets Beach in Brisbane on Monday