How Brisbane coach Chris Fagan empowered Lions players and coaches
AN open door and a friendly ear might just be the catalyst for a Brisbane turnaround in 2018. The signs are already there for the Lions and it starts with one man — coach Chris Fagan.
Lions
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lions. Followed categories will be added to My News.
BRISBANE Lions coach Chris Fagan is a good listener.
His office is just outside the Lions’ locker-rooms at the Gabba in Brisbane and the door is always open.
“The door was open all the year and the longer the year went on the more the players would come in and chat to me about their ideas,” Fagan told the Herald Sun during the Lions’ preseason camp in Launceston.
SUPERCOACH: WHICH LIONS SHOULD YOU TARGET IN 2018?
I’M BACK: ALLEN CHRISTENSEN FINALLY BACK ON PARK
“We were really strong on saying to them that you’ve got to have an opinion … it’s your club.
“Once they knew we weren’t going to bite their heads off if they said something that wasn’t too pleasant to hear … then they became confident to do it.”
Together with Leading Teams, who run weekly workshops for the Lions during the season, Fagan, 56, has empowered players and coaches to have “genuine conversations”, not always about football.
He knows “something” about every player, according to Lions forward Allen Christensen.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re No.1 or No.45, we’re all even, we’re all part of one big club,” Christensen said.
“If you want to have a chat to him he’s there, his door is always open, I know coaches say they’ve got an open-door policy but his door is literally always open.”
Lions captain Dayne Beams credited the second-year coach with steering the cultural change.
“He’s like a father figure to a lot of us … hopefully we can have some success for him soon and turn the footy club back to where it needs to be and where it should be.”
Fagan forged relationships, with players and coaches, before game plans.
The Lions reaped some reward in the second half of the season, winning four of the last 12 games after going into the bye with a 1-9 record.
Fagan, who spent close to a decade at Hawthorn, thanked premiership coach Alastair Clarkson for the “collegial” coaching.
“I know Clarko wouldn’t mind me saying this, but not all the ideas at Hawthorn were Clarko’s,” Fagan said.
“A lot of people came up with ideas and basically the best ideas were the ones that we used no matter who they came from, that’s probably the biggest lesson I learned.”
Fagan, the sixth Clarkson protégé to become a senior AFL coach, has empowered Lions assistant and development coaches to have a voice.
“One of his (Clarkson) greatest strengths is that he involved everybody in decision making and … with all of our experiences we could come up with some pretty good ideas that help us become good.”
The Lions have reason to believe “good” could be just around the corner with an exciting young list loaded with talent.
Importantly, the days of losing prized recruits could be over with a host of rising stars including Hugh McCluggage (pick No.4) this week, Eric Hipwood (No.14), Jarrod Berry (No.17), Bean Keays (No.25) and key defender Harris Andrews (No.61) signing contract extensions.
While arrival of four-time premiership Hawk Luke Hodge only boosts the Lions’ stocks.
The 305-game veteran has already had a profound impact.
The Herald Sun spent two days with the Lions in Launceston and Hodge could be seen and heard barking out instructions during match simulation, helping players with positioning and running patterns.
“Even better than I expected” Fagan beamed when asked about Hodge’s move to Brisbane.
“I’ve got no doubt already he’s been of great benefit to us, hopefully he can play a significant amount of footy — only time with tell of that.
“He’s going to help our young group grow as men, grow as footballers, and hopefully in the process he’ll work out whether he wants to be a coach or go down the media pathway.”
Vote: Which AFL club has the best crop of young guns?
How are your club’s under-23 players tracking? GLENN MCFARLANE looks at the young guns across the AFL, have your say on who’s future looks the brightest.
Lions 2025 preview: Fagan’s tough call on premiership hero
Brisbane will be battling up forward without Joe Daniher in 2025, but perhaps the toughest call for Chris Fagan might be what happens down back. Callum Dick previews their season.