There was hardly an “off season” for Brisbane Lions Senior Coach Chris Fagan.

Over the last few two months Fagan has convinced Luke Hodge to become a Lion and held meetings with a variety of elite professionals from different codes.

“We expect our players to keep growing as players. Us as coaches and me as a Senior Coach need to keep growing as well,” Fagan told lions.com.au at pre-season training this morning.

“New ideas, innovation, someone’s always trying something new. You can always learn from somebody else. Good to have those conversations.”

While in Victoria, he met with the Melbourne Storm’s Player Development Manager Brian Phelan.

Fagan acknowledged that despite playing in two different codes, the Lions and Storm have a lot in common.

“It was terrific. I thought the Melbourne Storm are an NRL team in an AFL dominated town. We’re an AFL team in an NRL dominated town,” Fagan said.

Melbourne Storm have sustained success for more than a decade and in September were crowned 2018 NRL premiers.

“I thought it was good to check up with him and what they do in that space to keep their players happy and evolved and committed to the Footy Club,” Fagan said.

Lisa Alexander, the Australian Diamonds Netball Coach, also an old friend, was another Fagan spoke with.

“[We] talked about leadership and culture and a number of those key issues that we look at every day when we work.”

Knowledge gained from these meetings can only add to the Lions’ preparation this pre-season.

Week one is already done and dusted, with all 1-4 years players surviving, some thriving, the brutal reality check.

The coaches were pleased with the condition in which their players returned.

Fagan says it’s a measure of their attitude.

“Attitude is the most important thing,” Fagan said.

“The desire to improve, to build on last year. You’re looking for that.”

It’s a far cry from his first pre-season last year.

“When I first turned up there were more guys in rehab than actually training.”

“We’re already starting off ahead of last year which is really exciting.”

Lions recruit Charlie Cameron trained this morning, weeks ahead of his due date.

“He was good. Fitted in well. Chatted with all the guys. Don’t think there’ll be any trouble fitting in with the group,” Fagan said. 

Mitch Robinson was another who attended training sessions earlier than expected. After breaking his foot and sitting on the sidelines for most of the 2017 season, he was itching to get back out on the field.

“He’s a pretty enthusiastic guy Mitch. I think he’d rather be training than sitting at home waiting to train, so he’s turned up early,” Fagan said.

Week one of pre-season is down, with another five months ahead.