Brisbane Lions’ Senior Coach Chris Fagan told SEN Radio, live in their Melbourne studio this morning, that despite sitting on the bottom of the ladder, the Club will be sad to see the season end on Saturday.
The Lions have won their past four from eleven games since the mid-season break and gave the seventh-placed Melbourne Demons a run for their money yesterday afternoon at the MCG.
On Saturday they host North Melbourne at the Gabba. A victory will ensure they will avoid the wooden spoon in 2017.
“There’s a real hunger in the group to improve and I’m really proud of the way they’ve finished off the season,” Fagan said.
“Because it’s not easy when you’re down near the bottom to stay motivated but our group has.”
Saturday’s game will finish an impressive maiden year as Senior Coach of the Brisbane Lions for Fagan.
He revealed to SEN, despite an impressive resume from his days at Melbourne and Hawthorn, he had never once been offered the Senior Coach role at an AFL club.
That changed when he received a phone call from Brisbane Lions CEO Greg Swann last year.
“Probably when I was younger I always wanted to coach but I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity because I didn’t have an AFL playing background,” he said.
Once he arrived in Brisbane, he did not waste any time. His first port of call was one-on-one meetings with each player, which took weeks to get through.
His agenda for each meeting was simple and consistent with three topics to be discussed: what worked at the club, what could be improved and three things they would focus on if they were Senior Coach.
For some, the meeting lasted half an hour, for others it took triple the time.
“I wanted them to feel like they were empowered and they had some buy in,” he said.
Fagan’s players know he just how invested in their cause he is. He’s become recognised as one of the more animated coaches in the coaching box, much to his own surprise.
“I thought I’d be calmer than I am,” he said.
“Those cameras, they’re on you all the time. They get you from time to time. I guess you’re so connected to your players and the result, and the passion comes out every now and again.”
“To a degree, I’m sort of happy that it does because it shows your players how much you care.”
Fagan is desperate for his side to go out winners against the Kangaroos in their last game of the 2017 season.
He says the future looks bright at the Club moving forward and has identified Sam Skinner as a player to watch in 2018.
“He’s a real competitor. I’m really hopeful he’ll step up again next year.”
The Brisbane Lions meet the North Melbourne Kangaroos on Saturday afternoon at 2:10pm at the Gabba.
