The nurturing nature of coach Chris Fagan has been there for all to see during Brisbane’s dramatic AFL turnaround.
But star forward Charlie Cameron has cheekily suggested the Lios only sparked their remarkable 2019 revival after “old fella” Fagan reeled in his cranky tendencies.
There is no doubting Fagan’s affection for his revitalised team, as witnessed by a sell-out Gabba crowd when the coach famously ran out onto the ground to passionately embrace his players after their dramatic one-point win over Geelong in round 22.
However, 2019 All-Australian selection Cameron revealed Lions players were greeted by a very different Fagan not so long ago.
“He’s a passionate coach. I think he got feedback at the start of the year that he had been a bit loud and had started screaming at the boys,” he told AAP.
“But he has got the feedback to stay calm and he has been that this year.
“He is a bit like a grandad to some players. I think he has his favourites with the younger players but he’s been good this year the old fella.”
No wonder.
Fagan has had little to complain about after steering Brisbane to a rare top-two season finish and their first playoff campaign in 10 years, starting with Saturday night’s qualifying final against Richmond at the Gabba.
And Cameron was confident the Lions would keep Fagan happy during the AFL finals after the coach helped the team ignore the hype and cool expectations.
“He has ensured we have been focusing all year on just trying to improve,” Cameron said.
“He never set goals on how many wins we wanted this year so I think he has done a good job on keeping a lid on things ahead of the finals.”
Lions ruckman Stefan Martin backed Cameron’s call, saying old soul Fagan would be their not-so-secret weapon behind Brisbane extending their winning form in a rare finals campaign.
“It’s Fages,” Martin said when asked about their stunning turnaround.
While admitting to “pinching himself” over their 2019 run which included a stretch of nine straight wins, Martin said Fagan would ensure the Lions wouldn’t be overawed against the Tigers.
“No doubt we have little finals or big-stage experience. A lot of this is going to be new to some,” he told AAP.
“But Fages is really good at preparing us for these sorts of things, walking us through how to approach it.
“His whole thing is about continual improvement. So far it has brought us a long way but it is not the time to go away from that, it’s time to do that even better.
“We are not going to start thinking about outcomes. We are only thinking about what we need to do against Richmond.”
