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Interviews, podcasts & upcoming media info [post media articles in relevant threads]

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Hey guys and girls. Probably odd question but I really want this picture I have signed by Zorko, fagan and lachie. I know they are playing in Melbourne (I live about 3 hours out of Melbourne) do they still do a training session the day before at Wesley college? Just really want to get this pic signed for my dad for Christmas

I know it’s an odd request but I thought I’d try here. Thanks guys
 

Love the bit where lions people have been having chats about what they think. Even had Josh drunkley thrown in he thinks holding the ball rule needs to be called more often. 🤣

🤣 unsolicited advice every day since he announced his new position. Sigh of relief as walks out the door.
 

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The world knows it - we would not be anywhere near what we are without Swannie's work - including the new stadium.

Eternal thanks.
 
I like on the couch mainly for what Buckley offers but the way Riewoldt tries to steer the discussion at times is really cringey. Feels a bit like he's fishing for click bait comments too deliberately. I'm sure he will stay on for another year but hopefully someone else is out there that would be a bit more natural at it.
 
I like on the couch mainly for what Buckley offers but the way Riewoldt tries to steer the discussion at times is really cringey. Feels a bit like he's fishing for click bait comments too deliberately. I'm sure he will stay on for another year but hopefully someone else is out there that would be a bit more natural at it.
Riewoldt was the only one of the players that thought Steven May should cop 3 weeks for his hit on the weekend, Buckley and Lewis think May should get off.
 

Swanny already paying for himself down at AFL House as a human shield for Dillon.
 
Swanny already paying for himself down at AFL House as a human shield for Dillon.
Dillon is legit the biggest idiot AFL house has ever had. Even in Swann's press conference, he couldn't string together 5 coherent words. How that guy got the biggest job in the league is beyond me, and next to Swanny, he looked like the work experience kid.
 
Because the players don't like it. Already intrusive enough.
Looks like they're simplifying it by just focusing on specific players who want to be involved then:

"Sources said the concept revolved more around the star players in each side - such as Marcus Bontempelli and Toby Greene – and their journey, rather than the broader club."

Star players, so I guess with Joe gone it'll have to be Ryan Lester.
 

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Josh Dunkley coming up live on the Sunday Footy Show for those who just cant get enough.
 
Anyone with access able to post this article:

View attachment 2385132


Brisbane Lions premiership player Jaspa Fletcher still vividly remembers the moment his dad asked him if playing AFL was truly what he wanted to do.
The question hit him like a freight train. For 15 years, following in his father Adrian’s footsteps had been his goal, his dream, his purpose.

But after a disappointing individual performance at the U15 National Championships in Tasmania, he returned home with a decision to make.

“I didn’t have the greatest of carnivals and when we got back to Queensland, dad sat down with me and said, ‘you don’t have to play AFL just because of what I have done and where I have been’,” he told this masthead ahead of Saturday’s blockbuster clash with Collingwood at the MCG.

It was a powerful statement from Adrian Fletcher, the 231-game AFL great who played for five clubs – including the Brisbane Bears and Lions – over 13 years.

After all, it could almost be expected that a young Jaspa would feel a weight of expectation, having grown up as the son of two highly-accomplished professional athletes. (His mum, Narelle, was a star basketballer who earned 296 WNBL caps and represented Australia)

Except Jaspa didn’t blink. He turned to his father and said: “I’m so keen to do this. This is what I want to do. It’s been my dream since I was a kid.”

“So he told me: ‘OK, I can help you get there, but I’m going to be hard on you. You need to put in the work.”

With the blueprint drawn up, father and son went to work turning Jaspa’s dream into a reality.

He went on to flourish within the vaunted Lions Academy and under Adrian’s tutelage at local club, Sherwood. In 2022 he captained the Allies at the U18 National Championships, earning All-Australian honours and burying the skeletons of three years earlier, before being drafted to the Lions as a father-son at pick 12 in that year’s national draft.

In just his second AFL season, Jaspa played every game and won a premiership – something neither of his parents managed to achieve in their highly-credentialed careers.

Yet weeks later, he found himself at another career crossroads. This time, he initiated the conversation.

“Obviously we achieved the ultimate success of winning a flag and as a group we played some pretty amazing football, but I thought personally I wasn’t playing up to the standard where I thought I could impact and get a lot out of myself,” Jaspa said.

“I was very open with myself about it and the club and the people around me.

“I knew that, especially coming off a flag, people can think you will drop off, so I really wanted to take that as a chance to put my foot forward and get after it a bit more.

“We have our end-of-year meetings with the club and they give you a list of your strengths and weaknesses. I took it back to dad and said, ‘this is the feedback from the club, I want to work on this and really nail it down’.”

Just as they had six years earlier, father and son went to work.

The sessions were brutal. Sometimes, so too was the feedback.

“Even when I was at Sherwood he was really hard on me,” Jaspa recalled.

“In past off-seasons there have been days where we didn’t see eye-to-eye and I was feeling a lot of pain, but I know at the end of the day that it’s coming from a good place and he wants me to do well.

“He’s proud of me. He’s happy. But he’s always kept me level-headed. People will say, ‘wow, you don’t get much from him’ but it speaks volumes to me that I know he trusts me and knows I will work harder to get better and I think that’s really important.

“Hopefully one day after my career (is over) we can look back on it. But yeah, he’s always there to give me feedback on where I can get better and I really love that.”

At the top of their off-season to-do list was aerial work. Even before his exit meeting feedback, Jaspa had heard it plenty of times before.

“There’s been a lot of days where dad has walked up and said: ‘You’ve got to work on your marking, you’ve got to work on your marking’. So there have been a lot of sessions fully based around run and jump, reading the flight of the ball and so on. I think it’s starting to pay off,” he said.

The pay-off was obvious in the first quarter of last weekend’s QClash, when Jaspa launched over the head of Suns rival Joel Jeffrey to pull down a Mark of the Year contender.

From a perceived weakness to now a definite strength, his ability overhead has helped transform the third-year Lion into a breakout star across halfback.

A smooth-moving wingman in his first two years of senior football, Jaspa was shifted into defence after Brandon Starcevich suffered a concussion against the Crows in a pre-season match at Brighton Homes Arena.

With Starcevich sidelined indefinitely and fellow running defender Keidean Coleman still on the comeback trail from an ACL injury, Jaspa was installed in Brisbane’s back seven and never looked back.

In eight fewer games he has already equalled his disposals tally from last season. By every metric he has eclipsed his high watermark of 2025.
If the season ended tomorrow, he would almost certainly finish inside the top five of the club’s best and fairest count.

“I’m quite proud with how I’ve played this year and how I’ve gone about it,” Jaspa said.

“We had a great, tough win in Sydney in the first game (of the season) but I didn’t play anywhere near my best and I think that was a bit of a look in the mirror moment.

“Since then I have just tried to go out there and really take on board the enjoyment I have for the game and back myself in.

“Confidence has been a huge thing. This is my third season now, I’ve played some games and that does help. I’m really enjoying my footy this year, my body is feeling good and I’m starting to grow. Now I just want to go out there, play some good footy and help us win.”
Last month, the club handed him a four-year contract extension to the end of 2030. It was just reward for a fan-favourite father-son who has proved his professionalism and is already being tapped as a future captain.

“I’ve heard a few people say that around the club as well and it’s a huge honour to receive that feedback,” Jaspa said.

“I’ve had a few captaincy roles growing up – I captained the Allies in my draft year and I absolutely loved that. It’s quite a difficult thing to bring five states into a footy group and play together and I really enjoyed that experience.

“It is something I really value outside of footy is leadership and having leadership qualities. We have great leaders at our club that are great to learn from.

“If the club sees me in a role where I can be amongst the leadership group, no matter what it is, I’ll certainly put my hand up.”
 
Over his final two years as a junior, Morris spoke to 17 of the 18 AFL clubs.
The only club he didn't speak to was St Kilda, which ironically have been the most vocal about the advantages Brisbane and other northern state clubs get with their academies.
 
Next week's Friday is kinda wild because it's a double header, and our game doesn't even start until 8:30pm on channel 7. Gonna be a late night for anyone not in perth
 

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Can't wait to watch that. An often unaddressed element of mental health struggles, and anxiety in particular, is the delayed onset element where it can often hit 6-24 months after the traumatic event (or even up to decades later). Phoenix Australia have some some great research on that front. I personally almost lost the home that we just spent more money than we had to buy in the 2019-2020 NSW bushfires (fire storms almost ripped through on more than one occasion) and had so much tension ongoing for 2-3 months. I had a massive mental health crash in early 2021 and ultimately took 2 months off work to work through it. Funny thing was everyone said how amazingly well I handled everything at the time, but were confused when it hit me a year later. Mental health challenges are complex and unique to each person - there are commonalities but no roadmap. I hope Chris Fagan is ok - but would understand if he isn't and hope he has the supports in place to handle that.
 
Can't wait to watch that. An often unaddressed element of mental health struggles, and anxiety in particular, is the delayed onset element where it can often hit 6-24 months after the traumatic event (or even up to decades later). Phoenix Australia have some some great research on that front. I personally almost lost the home that we just spent more money than we had to buy in the 2019-2020 NSW bushfires (fire storms almost ripped through on more than one occasion) and had so much tension ongoing for 2-3 months. I had a massive mental health crash in early 2021 and ultimately took 2 months off work to work through it. Funny thing was everyone said how amazingly well I handled everything at the time, but were confused when it hit me a year later. Mental health challenges are complex and unique to each person - there are commonalities but no roadmap. I hope Chris Fagan is ok - but would understand if he isn't and hope he has the supports in place to handle that.

Really makes me disgusted with that abc journalist and the 'victims' of the racism saga and what they put fages through
 
Really makes me disgusted with that abc journalist and the 'victims' of the racism saga and what they put fages through
Agree, they jumped the gun and tarnished Fagan's reputation with no care about the implications. Mental and physical health in particular, especially when there was no way to respond (due to legal implications). Then that was compounded by the effects on his family and friends.
 

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