New coach just the start of clean-out required at Brisbane Lions

THE Lions have punted coach Justin Leppitsch but more changes are needed to revive the club, writes Andrew Hamilton.

THE Lions and Suns will be relieved their horror seasons are over.

But if they don’t make the right decisions in the coming days, they will ensue the misery will continue for years to come.

The first decision the Lions made today was to thank Justin Leppitsch for his service and start the search for a new coach.

But it does not end there.

The Lions need the right people filling all the key roles at the club, starting from the top.

Not since Graeme Downie, Andrew Ireland, Graeme Allan, Leigh Matthews and Michael Voss in the premiership era have there been gun operators in all the major positions at Brisbane.

Leigh Matthews’ comments in Saturday’s The Courier-Mail that Queensland would never be AFL heartland were unbefitting a man in his position.

It infuriated AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan, who made his feelings known, and also Lions staffers who felt demoralised that their deputy chairman would trivialise the hard work they do to promote the code and club — seemingly to score another point in his long-running feud with head office.

Matthews needs to get over it, or move on.

Do the failures of Voss and Leppitsch rule out another premiership Lion from taking the job?

It shouldn’t. If Chris or Brad Scott are available they are worth talking to.

Justin Leppitsch has almost certainly coached his last game.

I discussed Brisbane’s plight with Voss over the weekend. Although he stressed he was too far removed to know what was happening at his former club, he said the coaching position was just one piece of the puzzle and stressed that the Lions had to get an experienced footy manager.

Voss’s coaching career was undertaken with inexperienced footy managers and a weak CEO- chairman combination in Angus Johnson and Malcolm Holmes.

Matthews himself identified a senior football head as a priority when he approached Gubby Allan during the middle of the season.

With Allan’s appointment as the new football boss at Collingwood, Neil Balme’s position at the Pies is up in the air. He should be the first person Brisbane calls.

There has been plenty of opinion the Lions need to go with a proven senior coach.

I disagree. They just need to get the best candidate.

But if he is unproven, the candidate should come from the two intakes to have gone through the AFL’s Level 4 coaching course and an experienced former senior coach should be brought in as senior assistant.

Meanwhile, with Dion Prestia and Jaeger O’Meara already out the door, the Suns are considering a major clean-out.

A tough decision looms on Nick Malceski, whose body is packing it in, while Aaron Hall remains a major frustration. He would be attractive to most clubs because of his pace and the Suns will listen to all offers.

The Coast should look at one of Sydney’s ruckmen and the very best midfielder they can convince to head north.

Originally published as New coach just the start of clean-out required at Brisbane Lions