Simon Black reveals why Chris Fagan’s coaching interview demanded the Brisbane Lions should appoint him

Hall of Famer Simon Black has revealed he knew Chris Fagan was the right man to coach Brisbane just 10 minutes into his first interview with the club. Black was part of the five-man panel entrusted with the job of picking Brisbane’s next coach in 2016 and was blown away by the way Fagan presented to that group. The 63-year-old created history on Saturday by not only becoming the oldest man to ever coach an AFL premiership, he did so despite never playing at the highest level. Black said his strengths were obvious early in the interview process. “I was fortunate to be part of the coach selection panel and when Fages walked through the door, within 10 minutes I was like ‘this bloke has got to be our coach,’” he said. “It was almost ‘I don’t care if he knows nothing about the game, his manner, his authenticity and genuine care you could feel from him, exuded from him. “I know he’s had his knockers at times in the media for the strategic part of the game. But 80 per cent of our list is from interstate and if you don’t have a great environment, they go home. “He’s brought a real family type environment to the place and that’s invaluable. That’s been the foundation to build on to become now a premiership club.” Black pointed to the way the Lions had built their premiership list to highlight Fagan’s importance. Only Dayne Zorko, Harris Andrews, Jack Payne, Jaspa Fletcher and Eric Hipwood were drafted from Queensland clubs but players from other teams had shown a clear desire to move to Brisbane. Black said Fagan understood the Lions had to be more than a normal football club to be successful. “You could just sense he cared about the player and the human being more than the football or the game,” Black explained. “He came from football management at Hawthorn for 10 years and you felt that about him. He had everything. He had the ability to want to get to know players. “When kids get drafted, he is all over the country wanting to get to know the family. The best thing that sums him up is when the draft a player, they don’t just draft a player, they draft a family. That’s what he’s about.” Fagan was recognised by his peers in the build up to the grand final by being named the AFL Coaches Association’s Coach Of The Year. The love from his players was on show after the game as Hugh McCluggage and Jarrod Berry snuck away with the Gatorade tub and dumped it over his head. The players also dragged him into the centre of their celebration photo, handing him the cup to hold over his head as he sat on the MCG tuf. Midfielder Josh Dunkley moved to the Lions after winning a premiership with the Western Bulldogs. He said Fagan was the type of coach that players were desperate to play for. “Everyone talks about him being a people person,” he said. “The way he manages us as a footy club, both tactically and off-field is very impressive. There’s obviously great strategic coaches out there. There’s a number of them but Fages manages both sides really well. It’s no surprise to me why he was coach of the year this year. He deserves this more than anyone.” Fagan took over the Lions in 2017 after the club won only seven games across the previous two seasons. Brisbane struggled in his first two years with a wooden spoon in his first year followed by five wins the next season along with five losses by single figures. But once Fagan taught the team how to win, they became a power. They had the pain of losing in straight sets during the 2019 finals, made a preliminary final in 2020, lost in straight sets again in 2021 and then won through to the preliminary final again in 2022. Despite all of that, Fagan said he never felt the team was ready to challenge until their grand final appearance last year. “I know we’ve played finals for the last six years but last year was the first time I genuinely thought we had a chance to win it,” he said. “I thought we were a developing team up until then. Last year was a big disappointment for us but a day we were still proud of and learnt plenty from. “Today we were able to put all those learnings into place, get ourselves a win and win a premiership. That’s how we’ve always approached things. We keep trying to learn and keep trying to get better. Everybody at the footy club has embraced that which I’m really proud of. “Today they found out if you do that, things can sometimes come your way. It’s a good lesson in life for everyone I think.”