Chris Fagan said earlier this week: "You don't coach a team to win a popularity contest."
asserted
You → say → contest
Despite his best intentions, the departing Brisbane Lions three-time premiership winning coach has done just that.
asserted
coach → depart → that
Today, after days of speculation, the 65-year-old has told the club he he will step down.
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he → tell → club
"Telling the players and football staff today was one of the hardest things I've done in my life,"he said.
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I → tell → life,"he
"We have been on a mission to make the Lions the most entertaining and competitive team in the competition, and we have done that."
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we → make → that
In his decade at the Lions, Fagan has broken the mould of what is needed to be an AFL coach.
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what → break → mould
He also leaves as one of the most popular figures in Australian sport.
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He → leave → sport
The reason Fagan took on the difficult job at the Lions back in 2016 was to help the club on its road to redemption.
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Fagan → take → redemption
Safe to say now, a little more than 10 years on, mission accomplished.
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mission → say → ?
Fagan is also known as "Fages", or "Papa Fages" to so many of the young men he coached during his tenure.
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he → know → tenure
Many have referred to him as a father figure, or another grandfather.
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Many → refer → figure
That respect goes both ways, with Fagan often noting that he considered players at the club as his sons, and wanted to "help them develop into the best people they can be".
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they → go → people
He finishes his role with 148 wins in 243 games as head coach, the most of any Brisbane Lions coach of all time, and of course those three titles.
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He → finish → course
Brisbane will never forget the work, effort and glory he has given the team.
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he → forget → work
A goalscoring teacher
Fagan grew up in Queenstown, Tasmania — a far cry from the humidity of Brisbane.
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Fagan → grow → Brisbane
He played 260 games of senior footy in the Tasmanian Football League with Hobart, Sandy Bay and Devonport between 1978 and 1990.
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He → play → 1978
Before coaching, Fagan went into teaching, working as a high school teacher in Tasmania towards the end of his playing career.
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Fagan → go → career
He took on some local coaching roles in Tasmania.
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He → take → Tasmania
The long apprenticeship from high school teacher to three-peat AFL premiership winning coach began in 1999 when AFL great Neale Daniher brought him to Melbourne Football Club.
He served under Daniher until 2007 before joining as an assistant and eventually general manager of football at Hawthorn.
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He → win → Hawthorn
The Lions hierarchy saw the value in what Fagan had learned and appointed him to replace Justin Leppitsch in late 2016.
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Fagan → see → 2016
After finishing second bottom of the ladder in 2016, the Brisbane Lions were looking for a fresh start.
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Lions → finish → start
A five-person coaching selection panel, led by then club chief executive Greg Swann, made the selection to appoint Fagan on October 4.
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panel → lead → October
The committee said Fagan was "exactly the person" the club needed.
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club → say → ?
"Chris is the perfect fit for the Brisbane Lions as we strive to regain relevance — his knowledge, experience, mentoring skills and ability to communicate are all elite," Swann said announcing the appointment.
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Swann → strive → appointment
At the time, Fagan said he felt Brisbane's best football was ahead of them.
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football → say → them
Yet in Fagan's first season at the club, the Lions finished rock bottom.
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Lions → finish → club
The team ended the 2017 campaign with 17 losses.
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team → end → losses
You would be forgiven if you thought Fagan must have been disheartened after his first season at the club ending in a wooden spoon.
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Fagan → forgive → spoon
"It's been a great year, I've learned so much about the group," Fagan said in August 2017.
"I think right now, I'm in a good position to know what's required."
The 'Gabbatoir' returns
In 2019, Fagan took the Lions to second on the ladder and a semifinal.
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Fagan → learn → ladder
They narrowly lost the semifinal to Greater Western Sydney, but it was a marked turnaround from the year prior.
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it → lose → Sydney
It had been a long time since playing in Brisbane was seen as a difficult away trip, but that year Fagan and his Lions turned the Gabba into a fortress.
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Fagan → play → fortress
From 2019 to 2023 the Lions won 49 of 53 regular season games at the Gabba.
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Lions → win → Gabba
Once again, the Lions had turned the Gabba into the "Gabbatoir".
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Lions → turn → Gabbatoir
He had made them believe.
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them → make → ?
"There's nothing magical or mysterious about it," he said in 2019 before the incredible home form began, adding the secret would be hard work, staying humble and believing.
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secret → be → 2019
He led the club to the Finals series in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022.
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He → lead → 2019
At the end of the 2022 season, Fagan took a leave of absence as Brisbane coach to assist with an external review into the treatment of Indigenous players during his time as an employee at Hawthorn alongside then-coach Alastair Clarkson and former welfare manager Jason Burt.
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Fagan → take → Clarkson
Fagan, Clarkson and Burt categorically denied all allegations of wrongdoing, and the case was settled out of court.
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case → deny → court
Fagan returned to his coaching duties in late October 2022.
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Fagan → return → October
In 2023, he guided the Lions to their first grand final in 19 years.
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he → guide → years
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
