Chris Fagan can put Brisbane Lions on the right track, writes Andrew Hamilton

BRISBANE needs a cultural revolution and Chris Fagan is the man to do it, and it helps that he came out of the Hawthorn premiership machine, writes ANDREW HAMILTON.

CHRIS Fagan cut his footballing teeth, not to mention knees and elbows, on a gravel oval in his home town of Queenstown.

According to fellow Tasmanian Alastair Lynch, playing footy there is not for the faint hearted. And you have to really love the game.

That is two massive ticks for the Lions’ right there.

The first impressions of the man who has been plucked from the relative obscurity of a footy manager’s role at Hawthorn and into the hot-seat at Brisbane is that any Lions who buy-in to his vision for the club will get a coach whose number one priority is to further their careers, not his.

The second impression is that any player who doesn’t will be shown the door.

HIGHER STANDARDS: NEW LIONS COACH TO DRAW LINE IN SAND

FUN FACTS: 12 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT FAGAN

Brisbane needs a cultural revolution and Fagan is the man to do it.

He is diplomatic, but fully aware of the size of his task. And he is not the slightest bit daunted by it.

“I couldn’t be any more ready, I’ve done the best apprenticeship a person could do really,” he said.

New Lions coach Chris Fagan at the Gabba. Picture: Jono Searle

It helps that he came out of the Hawthorn premiership machine.

But what most attracted the Lions, and the AFL who played a key role in Fagan’s appointment, was his broad employment history.

He has been involved in every role in a footy club.

Justin Leppitsch knows footy. He was a superb player and came back to Brisbane with an impressive track record in development as an assistant coach at Richmond.

Fagan gives Bradley Hill a hug after the 2014 Grand Final. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

But he had no experience managing people and it proved to be his downfall.

He did not invest enough in his players or coaches – and he did not listen.

As a first time head coach, Fagan can be viewed more in the mould of an EPL manager.

He will set the game plan and the values but opinions and ideas will be encouraged.

Like the Hawks, who have watched their ranks of assistant coaches get plundered year after year, Fagan’s Lions will invest in their people.

“I want to coach the team but I want to coach the coaches so they can grow and go on to bigger and better jobs and hopefully one day be senior coaches,” he said.

Fagan is a footy head, pure and simple. He has finally found his dream job. But the teacher within him is never far from the surface.

“I’m looking forward to that feeling that you get when you see the smiles start coming back to people’s faces because they know they are getting better, they know they are more competitive and they are looking forward to the next game,” he said.

Fagan after winning a premiership witj Devonport in Tasmania in 1988.