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Chris Fagan

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This is the best the Lions have looked going forward since the Suns entered the comp, the buzz around them at the moment in Brisbane is gratifying. Well done to Fagan and team, hopefully have resuscitated an ailing club.

The crowd for the Crows game next week will be interesting. Hopefully our second consecutive home game above 20k.

Pretty far below what we got in our heyday but they will jump back on board quick if this continues.

Helps that we are playing an attacking, positive brand of football rather than being overly dour and trying to grind out wins through attrition.
 
Of all the people poached from Hawthorn he was the one I was most worried to lose.

He's doing a great job, getting him and Noble and letting them get on with it was a fantastic effort and decision.

That's how you do it, you get good people and then you back them in.
 

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Bolton needs time like this too. The big thing about learning under Clarkson is you don't go 'ah shit, bad list, young blokes, so let's be negative to get wins and save my job.' Clarko had about 30 players with really good skills but he also got those on the outer to have some real chemistry and passion. But the main game is about high skill, attacking footy and when guys only have 20 games experience or you're still shedding shit players then you're going to end up with some bad results. Sooner or later they'll all get that extra second, it'll all click and then... bang.

Good on the Lions though, hope they become a decent side. Lots of talent and I think people of a certain generation still have this weird thing where, they were the team, so to see them back again would be great.
 
Fagan comes from the Clarkson school (or was part of developing the same school) of being a teacher and manager of people, rather than an old school coach. It shows.
Amazes me how few coaches get this.

You have 50 people. Some are sensitive and will play best with a 'mate, you're not going well, but you're better than this... you're one of my favourites here, you've done it before... so do it now' whereas some need to be told they're egos and useless pricks. Then there's all those in between.

I know a guy who was at Hawthorn, should still be tbh, was a good player but didn't crack a regular spot. He was told directly by Clarko he wouldn't get a contract but they'd always welcome him back at the club as he was still in the club as a member of three premierships despite playing in one. Have heard other blokes were told they were delisted by some list manager.
 
I have to admit I thought at the time signing another team's GM of footy as your head coach seemed unusual, but Fagan had been an assistant coach for a long time.

Rapt to see them doing well. Today's 22 with Hodge going out had Cox playing his 11th game and Rayner his 16th, plus Oscar McInerney also playing his 11th though he his nearly 24. The rest all had at least a season full of games under their belt.

9 of 22 had played under 50 and 5 were in the 50-100 bracket. There's some natural progression going on. Wasn't that long ago they were fielding sides with 13-1400 games of experience and 5 or 6 players under 10 games. And guys like Hanley, Rockliff, Beams, even Mitch Robinson & Allen Christensen couldn't all get on the park together regularly. Like Carlton now, but with senior player that are less shit. And younger players apart from Cripps and Curnow that are better.

Today McCluggage was really good, he's played 34 games. Rayner is in that exciting phase as a first year player where he's good enough to compete at AFL level and showing glimpses he could be a real star. Berry was pretty good, he's now played 30 games. Hipwood kicked 3 and while not as good as last week has kicked 16 in the last 5 games. He should be play his 50th this year. Witherden was good in game 25. Etc. Before long all of these guys will be out of the under 50 bracket. As it happens Schache also had a good game and while I'm sure they'd love to still have him there if he wasn't invested it's better for everyone that he's not just sitting inside 50 not getting a touch or languishing in the twos. They ended up with Zac Bailey out of the whole thing anyway and he's shown a bit in 10 games. Hopefully they'll soon be able to maintain a core of experience of 2000-2500 games and will be blooding young players at a more natural rate.
 
Which makes it curious as to why Bolton is struggling so much despite having the same background and apprenticeship.

SOS?

Couldn't have thrown up are more simplistic view if you tried. Bolton is 20 years younger than Fagan and by the time they had both got to Hawthorn Fagan was already 10 years in the AFL system.
 
Precious.

Someone directly mentioned that Fagan came from the Clarkson system and has a teaching background, which Bolton also has. It was a relevant comment/comparison to make, especially for two teams who have been rebuilding at the same time. There is no rule that any tangential mention of another club needs to be moved to another thread.

Again, don’t be precious. You are the one making it into a “thing”. It will be a really boring back and forth for everyone else. Apologies to them.

Difference between Carlton and Brisbane, apart from the coaches, is one side actually has heart and spirit while the other club is a weak heartless rabble. The Lions players actually WANT to play for their coach.
 
I think Fagan was actually director of coaching at Hawthorn. Clarkson used to go to Fagan for advice about new ideas he wanted to try. And he has been teaching and coaching at various levels for a longtime.

Great decision by Brisbane to sign him.
 

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McStay and Hipwood are functioning pretty well, Schache was a non-factor up here for his last 12 months unfortunately. It's worked out okay though, with Andrews going down this season and McStay playing forward, Josh Walker has potentially salvaged his career by reinventing himself as a backman. We managed to make lemonade with the GH5 leaving and getting some decent players in those drafts who are now starting to lead the team.

Also received pick 15 (Zac Bailey) as part of the Schache trade.
 
Difference between Carlton and Brisbane, apart from the coaches, is one side actually has heart and spirit while the other club is a weak heartless rabble. The Lions players actually WANT to play for their coach.

So team which had a month ago only won the same amount of games as us suddenly has a coach who should be coach of the year? Seems a bit ridiculous.

They have far more mature aged talent than us and had a clear run with injury.

We are a side with no confidence now and had a lack of continuity this year, we have been awfully bad regardless but these things can happen even if everyone loves the coach.

Very simplistic to say side is last = crap coach has lost players.

Proof will be in the pudding for both clubs in coming years, nothing decisive yet. A side 4-12 can’t be considered to have made it
 
So team which had a month ago only won the same amount of games as us suddenly has a coach who should be coach of the year? Seems a bit ridiculous.

They have far more mature aged talent than us and had a clear run with injury.

We are a side with no confidence now and had a lack of continuity this year, we have been awfully bad regardless but these things can happen even if everyone loves the coach.

Very simplistic to say side is last = crap coach has lost players.

Proof will be in the pudding for both clubs in coming years, nothing decisive yet. A side 4-12 can’t be considered to have made it
Hard to argue with that.
 
It's not just that they are beginning to put a few wins together, but also the way they are playing. I am really enjoying the lions this year. Their competitive, attacking brand will hold them in great stead for the future. They had a few deficiencies earlier in the season which led to some close losses, but they seem to be on the way to eradicating those.

As a 4-12 team, they have a percentage of 91. Surely this must be close to a record?

Complete opposite to the trash Carlton has dished up over the last three years, the Blues will do well to take note.

Sure, there will be a few more road bumps along the way, but they look a scary prospect for the future if they can keep their squad together and add a few good players through trade.

It's probably the most promising line up they've had since their era finished mid last decade. Their game against the Pies earlier this year would be one of the games of the year so far. A score line of 117-124, pretty much goal for goal the entire game, attacking footy, great skills and best of all straight kicking for goal.

I'm happy that Beams has overcome his injuries and not only playing the way he was playing while at Collingwood but now has become a great leader.

If they continue this form for the rest of the season, I'm sure they'll be given a Friday game or two next year and could feature somewhere deep in September as soon as next year.
 

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So team which had a month ago only won the same amount of games as us suddenly has a coach who should be coach of the year? Seems a bit ridiculous.

They have far more mature aged talent than us and had a clear run with injury.

We are a side with no confidence now and had a lack of continuity this year, we have been awfully bad regardless but these things can happen even if everyone loves the coach.

Very simplistic to say side is last = crap coach has lost players.

Proof will be in the pudding for both clubs in coming years, nothing decisive yet. A side 4-12 can’t be considered to have made it

Last week we had a mere 1.7 game experience advantage so it is hardly a matter of having more mature talent. Especially considering your team was slightly older.
  • (0 to 10 games - Brisbane 1 vs. Carlton 2)
  • 0 to 24 games - Brisbane 4 vs. Carlton 3
  • 25 to 49 games - Brisbane 4 vs. Carlton 8
  • 50 to 99 games - Brisbane 6 vs. Carlton 4
  • 100 to 199 games - Brisbane 7 vs. Carlton 4
  • 200+ games - Brisbane 1 vs. Carlton 3
Extra stats:
  • Average games played - Brisbane 88.6 vs. Carlton 86.9 (= +1.7 games on average)
  • Average age - Brisbane 24.7 vs. Carlton 24.9 (= -0.2 years on average)
  • Average height - Brisbane 189cm vs. Carlton 187.2cm (= +1.8cm on average)
  • Average weight - Brisbane 89.3kg vs. Carlton 85.8kg (= +3.5kg on average)

No Lion supporter is saying we've made it. We feel we're finally taking the next step as a club, but that stems from more than wins. Our % is sky high for our ladder position, and all year bar two games we've had a chance of winning. We have lost just three games over 30 points. Over the past 8 weeks, we've had a % of 113%. We as a club celebrate the little wins we get which build towards the bigger picture.
 
Last week we had a mere 1.7 game experience advantage so it is hardly a matter of having more mature talent. Especially considering your team was slightly older.
  • (0 to 10 games - Brisbane 1 vs. Carlton 2)
  • 0 to 24 games - Brisbane 4 vs. Carlton 3
  • 25 to 49 games - Brisbane 4 vs. Carlton 8
  • 50 to 99 games - Brisbane 6 vs. Carlton 4
  • 100 to 199 games - Brisbane 7 vs. Carlton 4
  • 200+ games - Brisbane 1 vs. Carlton 3
Extra stats:
  • Average games played - Brisbane 88.6 vs. Carlton 86.9 (= +1.7 games on average)
  • Average age - Brisbane 24.7 vs. Carlton 24.9 (= -0.2 years on average)
  • Average height - Brisbane 189cm vs. Carlton 187.2cm (= +1.8cm on average)
  • Average weight - Brisbane 89.3kg vs. Carlton 85.8kg (= +3.5kg on average)

No Lion supporter is saying we've made it. We feel we're finally taking the next step as a club, but that stems from more than wins. Our % is sky high for our ladder position, and all year bar two games we've had a chance of winning. We have lost just three games over 30 points. Over the past 8 weeks, we've had a % of 113%. We as a club celebrate the little wins we get which build towards the bigger picture.

Remember that those numbers include Simpson who was a late out and pretty big impact in terms of experience.
 
Last week we had a mere 1.7 game experience advantage so it is hardly a matter of having more mature talent. Especially considering your team was slightly older.
  • (0 to 10 games - Brisbane 1 vs. Carlton 2)
  • 0 to 24 games - Brisbane 4 vs. Carlton 3
  • 25 to 49 games - Brisbane 4 vs. Carlton 8
  • 50 to 99 games - Brisbane 6 vs. Carlton 4
  • 100 to 199 games - Brisbane 7 vs. Carlton 4
  • 200+ games - Brisbane 1 vs. Carlton 3
Extra stats:
  • Average games played - Brisbane 88.6 vs. Carlton 86.9 (= +1.7 games on average)
  • Average age - Brisbane 24.7 vs. Carlton 24.9 (= -0.2 years on average)
  • Average height - Brisbane 189cm vs. Carlton 187.2cm (= +1.8cm on average)
  • Average weight - Brisbane 89.3kg vs. Carlton 85.8kg (= +3.5kg on average)

No Lion supporter is saying we've made it. We feel we're finally taking the next step as a club, but that stems from more than wins. Our % is sky high for our ladder position, and all year bar two games we've had a chance of winning. We have lost just three games over 30 points. Over the past 8 weeks, we've had a % of 113%. We as a club celebrate the little wins we get which build towards the bigger picture.

I said talent over 23 not just players. Brisbane’s group of mature players is a lot better than the likes of Rowe, Jones, Lamb and Wright.

Obviously I’d rather us playing like Brisbane than what we are the moment. At this current trajectory a push for finals or at least 10 wins next year should be the aim
 
Fagan comes from the Clarkson school (or was part of developing the same school) of being a teacher and manager of people, rather than an old school coach. It shows.
Best of both worlds. Coached under Daniher who has been recognised as one of the great tacticians, before coaching under Clarkson as one of the great man managers.
Actually stunning in hindsight that he didn’t have a crack earlier.
 

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Chris Fagan

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