Coaching Staff Chris Fagan - Coach

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Finally got the chance to listen to the Talking Footy podcast. Fagan is a great man and honestly it is great as a supporter being able to hear him speak. If he is inspiring for us as fans it would be something massive for our players.
 

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Nunez said:
Ruse had to vote no didn't he...
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That's because if Chris Fagan enjoys success at Brisbane, boys will be forced to wear dresses at school and children will be made to role play being gay. That's why Ruse is saying NO to Chris Fagan.
 

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Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says his side approaches away games like ‘missions’

MOST teams hate playing on the road. But the Brisbane Lions aren’t like most teams. Coach Chris Fagan explains why his group of road warriors approach each game like a new ‘mission’.

LIONS coach Chris Fagan says while increasing his side’s physical presence was the focus for this season, he has found no need to work on their mental strength.

The Lions play St Kilda at Etihad Stadium on Saturday and Fagan said he learnt early in his stint at Brisbane that he was in charge of a group of road warriors.

The Lions pushed then reigning premiers the Western Bulldogs and last year’s flag winners Richmond to the wire at the venue last season before suffering final quarter fade-outs to lose both games by five goals.

They also stunned finals-bound Essendon with an eight-point victory in Round 15.

“We have the mental strength to play anywhere,’’ he said.

“We beat Essendon at Etihad in front of a huge crowd that was very one-sided and we also played well against Port Adelaide at Adelaide Oval last year, it was a close game all night and that crowd is very parochial and the boys enjoyed it.’’

Fagan believes the close knit nature of the team made away trips feel like “missions”, something he first sensed on his coaching debut against the Suns at Metricon Stadium in Round 1 last year.

“They enjoy each other’s company and when they travel they get the feeling of going on a mission together,’’ he said.

“Even in Round 1 last year we all went down to the Gold Coast on a team bus and you could feel it gelling among them on the trip and we started our season really well.’’

Brisbane excited the competition with their rapid ball movement last year and Fagan said this year he wanted them to make a physical impression.

“Every team wants to win the first game and we want to make a statement about how we want to play this year by coming out and starting well,’’ he said.

“The only way we are going to earn respect is to be a better side in the contest.

“We want to be stronger, you can’t win every contest but we also want to be better at tackling in tight.

“We still want to keep our ball movement going but we’ve really made the contest a focus.’’

Former Hawks skipper Luke Hodge and ex-Crow Charlie Cameron will make their debuts in Lions colours.

Everyone knows what to expect from Hodge but Fagan warned a younger player like Cameron could take some time to adjust to his new teammates.

“We know what he can do but we just want him to be a good pressure forward,’’ he said.

“His Lions career is only two pre-season games old.

“If he can bring his pressure we will be happy with that and we can build from there.’’
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Fagan confident kicking efficiency will improve

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan is confident his team's kicking efficiency will improve after an encouraging but incomplete performance against St Kilda that saw the Lions shoot themselves in the foot.

An upset was brewing on Saturday afternoon, but turnovers killed the Lions under the Etihad Stadium roof as St Kilda feasted on the young team's mistakes to kick away late and win by 25 points.

Fagan, who was excited by a new look team that included No.1 draft pick Cam Rayner, said a pre-season spent focusing on contested ball and defensive structure could have hurt the Lions' ball use.

The coach was confident it would not be a lasting problem though.

"You look at some of the stats in this game; we won the clearances so very, very well, we won contested possession (and) time in forward half," Fagan said.

"But the telling statistic is kicking efficiency. We were 14 per cent worse than St Kilda and that was the game.

"It was one of our strengths last year, we were actually pretty good at it. But we've worked on our defensive action and our contested ball all summer, and sometimes the other little bit suffers.

"In time with this group we'll get it in balance. I don't think there was a lot in this game today."

St Kilda routinely got free behind Brisbane's defenders on Saturday, kicking their opening four goals from within 15m.

"That's what happens when you get turnovers, you can't defend them, they just bunny hop you all the way down the oval," Fagan said.

"They were good enough to do that and we probably weren't good enough at punishing them the other way."

Rayner showed why he was recruited with the Lions' No.1 pick in last November's NAB AFL Draft when he gathered, burst sideways and snapped a classy goal across his body in the third quarter.

The powerful youngster finished with eight possessions and two inside 50s, with Fagan excited by what he saw.

"I thought he could have kicked a couple of others with a little bit more composure," the coach said.

"He showed some good glimpses … he'll grow and develop."

The coach described champion recruit Luke Hodge as "pretty solid" in defence, while Charlie Cameron (three goals) was exciting.

"You could see why we got him to the club," Fagan said. "Not just his ability to score, but to apply pressure to the opposition and compete in the air and on the ground.

"I'm really pleased for Allen Christensen. He's been out of the game for nearly two years and I thought he made a really solid contribution today."
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Talks to put Tassie back on the map
The prospect of bringing a Tasmanian team back into the elite TAC Cup will be one of the major discussion points when a high profile, Gillon McLachlan-led committee charged with reviving Tasmanian football meets on Wednesday.

The push for Tasmania to field a team again in the Victorian TAC Cup under-18 competition is viewed by the AFL as a strong option, as the committee – including AFL boss McLachlan, senior coaches Brendon Bolton (Carlton) and Chris Fagan (Brisbane) and Saints great Nick Riewoldt – convenes to discuss two major challenges facing the game in Tasmania.

The first challenge under discussion is the pathway for youngsters; hardly any Tasmanian footballers have been drafted recently, an embarrassment to the AFL and a source of widespread criticism about the long-term management of the state. While there is a strong push for the re-introduction of a TAC Cup team – the Tassie Mariners played in the competition from 1995 until 2002 – the AFL has yet to make a formal decision.

Fagan, who was the inaugural coach of the Tassie Mariners before joining Melbourne as an assistant coach, is a strong advocate of the Mariners rejoining the TAC Cup. But sources said that although this option had strong support it was not the only option for improving the pathway. The state league is also seen as problematic by many Tasmania football people, in part because of the long distances between north and south.

The committee also includes the current chief executive of AFL Tasmania, Trish Squires, and her predecessor and current AFL head of game development, Rob Auld. Tasmania fields an under-18 team in the AFL academy series against teams from the Swans, Giants, Lions and Suns, but its best players from that squad do not represent their state in the National Under 18 championships. They play only for the Allies, which also includes players from the northern states.
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