Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan takes no risks with Keidean Coleman and Oscar McInerney

Chris Fagan hopes to celebrate his 200th game as an AFL coach with a win over Hawthorn but will have to do so without the services of two key players.

Keidean Coleman has a “sore” knee, but Lions coach Chris Fagan has eased fears that the Brisbane star has suffered a significant setback in his return from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.

After making his first AFL appearance in 14 months last Sunday in Brisbane’s 11-point loss to Melbourne at the Gabba, Coleman hasn’t been named in the Lions team for Saturday’s clash against Hawthorn at the MCG on Sunday,
“Soreness” has been given as the reason for Coleman’s absence, with Fagan mindful that the Lions also have a home game on Thursday night against Essendon in not wanting to overload the 25-year-old half-back.

“We just made the decision to give him a little bit longer to get ready,” Fagan said on Friday. “His knee was a little bit sore as well. There’s nothing sinister there, but it’s just all part and parcel of not having played at the highest level for a fairly extended period of time.”

Lions star Keidean Coleman won’t play against Hawthorn on Saturday. Picture: Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Before his AFL return last weekend, Coleman played two matches for Brisbane’s VFL team.

“He was a little bit sore after those games but nowhere near as sore as the other day (after the AFL loss to Melbourne),” Fagan said.

“He got a shock with the difference in intensity between VFL footy and AFL footy. We all underestimate that.

“VFL is the best that we’ve got to prepare our players, but it is poles apart from what you get in AFL footy and the non-stop nature of it.”

The Lions will also be without first-choice ruckman Oscar McInerney, who will be “managed” for the second successive week.

McInerney will travel to Melbourne as an emergency but won’t play unless Darcy Fort suffers a pre-match injury.

“He’s still sore. He was pretty banged up,” Fagan said before adding that the Lions were “trying to manage things carefully” as another member of the club’s ruck brigade, Henry Smith, was sidelined with a foot problem.

“We’re operating with two ruckmen (Fort and McInerney) at the moment, and one of them is a bit sore.

“It’s a conservative approach.”

Saturday’s match will he Fagan’s 200th as an AFL coach after starting his top-flight coaching career with Brisbane in 2017.

Chris Fagan will reach 200 games as an AFL coach on Saturday. Picture: Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images

“I probably never thought I’d coach a game of AFL football, let alone 200, so to get to that milestone is special for me and my family,” said the premiership-winning mentor, who was 56 when he was appointed by the Lions.

“My greatest feeling is one of gratitude to all the people who have helped me along the way, whether that be my parents, the coaches that I had as a player that I learnt from, the coaches that I worked with in the AFL, people like Neale Daniher and Alastair Clarkson and mentors that I’ve had, people like Phil Smyth, Danny Daly and Leigh Matthews.

“Then … the Brisbane Lions. I’m so thankful to them for giving me the opportunity. It was a bit of a punt, taking a bloke who didn’t have an AFL playing background, who was a footy manager, to be their coach eight or nine years ago.

“That was a brave decision, particularly by (Lions chief executive officer) Greg Swann and then people who selected the (coaching) group.

“Then there are all the coaches, the football department staff and obviously the players.

“I wouldn’t have got to 200 if it wasn’t for the players, the high quality group that they are, the resilience that they’ve been able to show over the last eight or nine years.”

Originally published as Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan takes no risks with Keidean Coleman and Oscar McInerney