Hawthorn premiership legend Dermott Brereton holds emerging Fremantle midfielder Lachie Neale in high regard.

The five-day and five-night premiership player wrote in the Herald-Sun that Neale is the AFL’s number one underestimated player.

“Neale takes a back seat to the league’s buzz player, Tarzan-like midfielder Nat Fyfe,” Brereton said.

“He finds it difficult to cover the ground and deliver the ball with the exquisite talents that God gifted David Mundy.

“He falls short of the prolific numbers that Michael Barlow regularly chalks up.

“And he doesn’t break the lines by carrying the ball with the speed of a cheetah, like Stephen Hill.

“He doesn’t do any of those things. But without him, these Fremantle big names wouldn’t be doing their thing quite so well.”

Neale in awe of Freo teammates

In his regular column for the Herald-Sun, Brereton described Neale as a “mini-brute” and a “ball of muscle”, as the league’s best player in getting first hands on the footy at stoppages.

“Someone like Neale can win the first possession deep inside the pack, feed the ball to a Mundy, Fyfe or Barlow closer to the outside of the pack, then they break free and get credited with a clearance,” Brereton said.

“This kid is an ‘inside’ machine and he is still only 21 and yet to play his 50th game.

“His ability to play deep inside the stoppage packs allows his much more celebrated teammates to find their natural range at the stoppages."

Brereton said that Neale’s clearance rate of 85 per cent was “phenomenal” and that he was the vital link in Freo’s impressive midfield dominance in the early part of the 2015 season.