Brisbane Lunch 2025: Lions, Broncos leaders feature at inaugural event

What do you do when you’ve just lost a Grand Final? Seek out someone to drown your sorrows with who knows your pain. In 2023, that meant Mad Monday with a difference for the Brisbane Lions and Broncos.

Premiership coach Chris Fagan has categorically ruled out coaching another club beyond the Brisbane Lions, telling a room of people at the Brisbane Lunch on Friday he was grateful for the “respect” the people of Queensland had shown him over the past nine years.

Fagan, 63, last year became the oldest premiership coach in V/AFL history when he led the club to its fourth flag since the Brisbane Bears and Fitzroy merged to form the Lions in 1996.

Late last year he signed a two-year contract extension to remain at the club until at least the end of 2027 – in some peoples’ minds, leaving the door open to become the Tasmania Devils’ inaugural coach ahead of their AFL entry in 2028.

But Fagan shot that down on Friday, adding he had no desire to coach anywhere else once his time at the Lions came to an end.

“I’ve found Brisbane to be an incredibly supportive and happy place in terms of AFL footy,” he said.

“When I first got here, nobody really knew who I was anyway because the Lions didn’t win too many games. But since we have become a bit better, a few people recognise me in the street – they are very respectful people up here.

“So I’m glad my AFL coaching has occurred here in Brisbane. It will never happen in Melbourne, it will only happen here, and then it will be over.”

Brisbane Lions and Brisbane Broncos players on stage at the inaugural Brisbane lunch.

Those words earned a raucous round of applause from the assembled crowd, which put its football code allegiances to the side for an afternoon to celebrate the shared success of the Brisbane Lions and Broncos.

The two clubs broke bread at the inaugural Brisbane Lunch on Friday, with heavyweights from the Lions and Broncos sharing the stage in support of anti-domestic violence charity, Small Steps 4 Hannah.

Broncos’ star Pat Carrigan said his side had used the Lions’ 2024 premiership success as motivation to fill the “spare plinth” at Red Hill that sat waiting for their next Provan-Summons Trophy.

“Regardless of being different codes I think we are all fans of the different teams in Brisbane,” Carrigan said.

“I know the boys (from the Lions) take on predominantly the Melbourne teams … and we take on Sydney.

“In 2023 when we lost the grand final we both spent Mad Monday together as losers. To see them win last year was massive.

“As a city, I know I speak on behalf of both of us (clubs), we just want to see Brisbane win and these boys provided us with that motivation – and that spare plinth is hopefully getting filled very soon.”

The leaders of both clubs speak.

Lions co-captain Lachie Neale said he and his family had fallen in love with Queensland and could remain here even after he retires.

The South Australian began his AFL career in Western Australia at Fremantle, before requesting a trade to Brisbane in 2019.

“I think the biggest difference is the friendliness from supporters. If we lose, we don’t get hounded,” Neale said.

“I used to literally order Uber Eats coffee after we lost at Freo, because I didn’t want to go to the coffee shop and speak to fans after we had lost.

“It’s been great for me and my family. We love it here in Brisbane and we are settled now. We feel like, even post-footy, we might end up staying in Queensland, we love it that much.”

Lions AFLW coach Craig Starcevich shared a poignant memory of his time as a Bears player in the mid-90s under former coach Robert Walls, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 74.

“Robert Walls and Wayne Bennett brought the two men’s squads together to have a Broncos-Bears Olympics back in the mid-90s – they were fun games actually,” Starcevich said.

“It’s quite relevant and topical right now.

“We had this amazing game called off-side touch. I think the rules were, you pass back once but then everything else after that was anywhere you wanted.

“So we would just send Darryl White flying down the wing … and try and dish out a long handpass to him. They would do the same with Wendell Sailor or someone like that as well. They were fun days.”

Originally published as Brisbane Lunch 2025: Lions, Broncos leaders feature at inaugural event