AFL 2024: Lions coach Chris Fagan used reflections on 2023 grand final loss to prepare for clash with Sydney

The Brisbane Lions coach revealed the novel way he approached the 2023 grand final loss to help prepare for Saturday’s return to the AFL decider.

The Lions are underdogs, Chris Fagan says. Picture: Mark Stewart

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan claimed underdog status leading into last year’s grand final, but he’s trying something new before the Lions meet Sydney at the MCG.

Asked if he felt the same way about his side’s contender status as he did before the 2023 loss to Collingwood, Fagan called the Lions and Swans “equaldogs” after his fifth-placed team rode a wave of momentum through to the final game of the season.

Fagan said a time capsule he had asked players and coaches to participate in after last year’s decider had been an important learning tool as the Lions tried to avoid a repeat against the Swans.

“Grand finals always come back to moments, and you watch the game and you see the moments that you either won or you lost,” the coach said on Friday.

“We looked at that immediately after the grand final, we talked about, ‘what did we learn?’, so if we happened to be lucky enough to get back there again, then we’d carry the lessons with us.

“We did a bit of an exercise where we wrote all those things down and put them in a time capsule, not really knowing that we’d be pulling them out again this year, but we pulled them out before the finals series this year.”

Chris Fagan says the Lions are entitled to have ‘high hopes’ Picture Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

The coach said Brisbane had earnt the right to “high hopes” leading into the clash against the minor premier with its form over the second half of the season.

“I think we’re the ‘equaldogs’,” he said with a grin as he looked to Sydney counterpart John Longmire sitting to his right.

“I think we both go into the game with high hopes. Sydney has been the best team all year … we’ve had a great last three and a half, four months, so there’s two really in-form teams coming into the grand final, I think it’s a real 50-50 game, is how I see it.”

Fagan said his use of material from hit television comedy Ted Lasso had been “overplayed” by former captain Dayne Zorko in the lead-up to the game.

The coach said it had been an important way to “lighten things up” when the Lions were struggling earlier in the season, but said there would be nothing unusual about their pre-game routine on Saturday.

“That Ted Lasso thing, that’s been overplayed, seriously. I showed them one episode, where (character) Dani Rojas had the yips … we needed to laugh at ourselves a little bit, so that’s the only time I used Ted Lasso,” Fagan said.

“I thought we’d have a bit of fun and lighten things up a bit.

“We’ll keep it calm (on Saturday) … we’ll do the same thing that we do every week, that’s the mistake you can make when you get to grand finals is you think you’ve got to change things around, but for us, our routine will be the same.”

Harris Andrews says he is better prepared for this year’s grand final. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Brisbane co-captain Harris Andrews said he had felt a “little bit more anxious” ahead of the Collingwood decider than this year’s clash but was enjoying watching the side’s younger cohort go through grand final week for the first time.

“I know I was probably a little bit more anxious last year, not really knowing what we were walking into,” he said.

“This year, having been through those experiences and being able to reflect on what worked and what didn’t necessarily work has been important.

“At the same time, we’ve still got a couple of young guys who are 20, 21 years of age who are experiencing it for the first time, and it’s really rewarding seeing those guys go through not just this week, but the whole season, experiencing big interstate wins … down here last week, and in Sydney the week before.

“It’s been a really good build-up, and we’re really excited for the weekend.”

Originally published as AFL 2024: Lions coach Chris Fagan used reflections on 2023 grand final loss to prepare for clash with Sydney