Brisbane coach Chris Fagan talks up Gold Coast’s future

Only percentage separated Brisbane and Gold Coast before kast year’s corresponding QClash. So much changed for the Lions but Chris Fagan believes the same happen for the Suns.

Stuart Dew and Chris Fagan with the QClash trophy. Picture: AAP

A lot can change in a year.

Brisbane will take the most superior ladder position in QClash history into Saturday’s derby but Lions coach Chris Fagan reckons it won’t be long before the two side are again evenly matched.

The Round 22 QClash last season decided which Queensland club would finish lower on the ladder.

The Lions’ hard-fought four-point win ensured they finished the season in 15th with only St Kilda’s superior percentage separating them from the 17th-placed Suns.

At the time the Suns believed only perception separated the two sides, but as they prepare for QClash 18 the gap has blown out 15 ladder positions.

However Fagan said after witnessing the impact rival coach Stuart Dew had made at Gold Coast he could envisage the Suns making a similar ascent up the AFL ladder.

Chris Fagan and Stuart Dew share a laugh with the QClash trophy. Picture: AAP

“Things can change very quickly,’’ Fagan said.

“I think for Dewey, you need to go through your first year with a team and a club to learn a bit about them.

“You can have an idea when you first walk in but you need that first 12 months together to work out what really needs to happen.

“He’s now finished the second year and I reckon he is right, you can see lots of similarities between where we were this time last year and where they are now.

Live stream the 2019 Toyota AFL Premiership Season on KAYO SPORTS. Every match of every round. Live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial >

“If I was Stuey I would be feeling pretty positive about where his team is at and just hang in there because you never know when it is going to turn around for you and it can sometimes happen reasonably quickly like it has for us this year.’’

Supporting Fagan’s view is that the age and experience of the two sides is almost identical with Brisbane’s average age of 23 years and 128 days and 55 games slightly above the Suns’ 23 years and 84 days and 50 games.

Jarryd Lyons was a Sun but is now a Lion. Picture: Getty Images

Dew said the Suns clean-out last year – headlined by co-captains Steven May and Tom Lynch and midfielder Jarryd Lyons – had impacted his side but had also given greater responsibility to younger players which was where the improvement would come from.

“We made some decisions at the end of last year that we knew might have caused a little bit of pain this year in terms of win loss, but we think it will hold us in good stead,’’ he said.

“A lot of our young players have had great opportunities this year and if we look at our list in an individual sense we think a lot of guys have developed through those opportunities and competed a lot longer in games.

“That was a highlight of Brisbane last year.’’

Originally published as Brisbane coach Chris Fagan talks up Gold Coast’s future