Only a lunatic would have traded a seat at Hawthorn’s dining table for Brisbane’s trough last year, but right now Chris Fagan is probably as happy as a pig in mud, for he doesn’t have to suffer the scrutiny currently being applied to his former club.
That said, things aren’t especially rosy at the Gabba, particularly after a 52-point loss to Richmond.
But while on the scoreboard it’s a familiar result for Brisbane, there are distinct changes from previous years.
We actually have a defence
Fagan’s first port of call was rectifying a defence that leaked worse than Donald Trump’s White House administration. Last year, under Justin Leppitsch, the Lions conceded an average of 130.5 points per game – one of the worst returns in the competition’s history.
A month into Fagan’s tenure and that figure has been reduced by more than 20 points (108.2). While it’s still on the high side, Fagan is steering Brisbane in the right direction. He has achieved this by demanding more defensive running from his midfielders and by keeping his charges motivated for longer.
At times last year, players had clearly thrown in the towel. Fagan, at least, has got Brisbane staying competitive. Additionally, the Lions haven’t given up as many over-the-back goals this season – something of a staple under Leppitsch.
Pressure
Fagan’s Hawthorn influence hasn’t gone unnoticed, ramping up the focus on forward pressure at the Lions. To reinforce its importance to his game plan, Fagan has deployed Mitch Robinson as a full-time forward and given opportunities to Jake Barrett to harass opposition defenders.
This has resulted in the Lions being ranked second in the AFL for tackles inside 50 (15.3 per game). The return of Allen Christensen in the coming weeks should only add to Brisbane’s ability to pressure the opposition.
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Smarter ball movement
Under Leppitsch, the Lions had plan A for moving the ball down the field – move it quickly by hand and create an overlap. To be fair to the three-time premiership centre-half back, Brisbane can look brilliant when this comes off.
The problem was, there was no other alternative when opposing teams shut down that run or set-up behind the ball. Brisbane tried playing possession football but they couldn’t actually advance the ball, so effectively they kept chipping it around until someone inevitably turned it over.
Fagan’s Lions can switch the ball and they can work the ball down the field through a series of short kicks and lead-up marks. While disposal efficiency is down compared to last year (72 per cent v 70.5 per cent), the Lions are getting ten more uncontested possessions and 20 more disposals per game this year and they are more inclined to kick than handball.
List depth
Injuries haven’t helped, but in previous years the hidings haven’t been limited to the senior side. Brisbane’s NEAFL side has struggled but this year they’re undefeated, boasting as many as 20 listed players per game. Emphasising this new-found depth is the fact that three of last year’s off-season trade targets – Ryan Bastinac, Josh Walker and Jarrad Jansen – are running around in the twos.
A winning NEAFL team is good for the club as it keeps morale up and means there’s competition for spots, which is healthy and should push the players to improve. Games will be earned, not gifted under Fagan.
Leadership
On-field leadership has been sorely lacking for Brisbane, and Leppitsch event noted it wasn’t a “Melbourne Cup field” to choose from.
This year the leaders are standing tall, led by captain Dayne Beams and his vice, Tom Rockliff, who leads the AFL in clearances. Stefan Martin, Dayne Zorko, Mitch Robinson, Daniel Rich and Harris Andrews have also been consistent.
There’s a long way to go for Brisbane in their climb back to relevancy but the coach is already stamping his mark on the team.
With his dinner plan in mind, Chris Fagan’s setting the Lions’ table so the club can feast once again.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
It's just south of the CBD yeah? I'm just trying to picture my Brisbane geography. For a kid who's been told is brilliant at geography my knowedge of Brisbane is lacking... ? I remember heading straight past it on a bus (think I was heading to the museums - is the Gabba around there?) sometime when I was in Brisbane fairly recently, the Gabba seems to just appear out of nowhere; sorta like Etihad in Melbourne.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Now that would be impressive. Hadn't even noticed
Paul D
Roar Guru
It's alright, it's just a smallish circular oval, if that makes sense. Max capacity 40,000, uniform rainbow paddle pop coloured seating. All bare concrete. It's basic, but it works quite well. Unless it's full though the crowd noise kinda just disappears straight up in the air, it can be a very soulless place when it's half empty and the Lions are getting flogged on a Sunday afternoon It's a lot more fun during cricket season
Paul D
Roar Guru
No arguments about Bell, he shows flashes but he's very inconsistent, bit like that John Butcher who used to play for Port. But to be fair to our recruiting team he was kind of a opportunistic pickup, he wanted home to Qld as his dad had health issues so he didn't cost us much, downgrade from 2nd to 3rd round in draft and gave up a 4th rounder to Carlton. He serves a role and will give us good service while the kids develop. Anyways, I can only agree and hope that it will come with time as these guys get older and develop, I just question though who they're going to learn it from because there is just no-one in that forward line at the moment, it's all kids and bits and pieces players. The more I look at the lions list the more I remain convinced we need a few more imports if we're going to make this work
Nick
Guest
Never been a fan of Tom Bell. The recruiting team have signed some really ordinary players from other clubs over the years, although Beams and Mitch Robinson have been good pick ups. Even so you can't just rely on one guy to put the pressure on and surely the young ones must have enough football brains to know not to let the opposition stroll out of attack.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
I can't comment on the Gabba, but I definitely agree with you on Adelaide Oval. I've been there three or four times and it's brilliant. I love driving past it as well, especially when it's lit up. Very impressive, ain't it?
Brendon the 1st
Guest
What's the Gabba like as a stadium? I spent years on the outer at Footy Park watching Port get belted in front of 14k, wasn't great. The new stadium makes it so much better.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
Tom Bell omission had been coming. Robbo will go forward again. Especially with Bastinac back in.
Stewie
Guest
Even more so now Schade's at Collingwood!
Keagan Ryan
Roar Guru
The problem with the Richmond game is we used Robinson to negate Dusty - this season he has been primarily forward for his pressure. Robinson did really well on Martin, but we robbed Peter to pay Paul, and our forward pressure suffered. We asked Cedric Cox to perform that role (he replaced Jake Barrett who I thought had been doing okay), but he probably doesn't have the physical presence to fulfill it... which resulted in just two tackles for him. Robinson pretty much HAS to play forward this week, because we've also omitted Tom Bell...
nick
Guest
Watched the game against Richmond and could not see any forward pressure. Felt sorry for the back line they tried hard but when the ball comes in from your forward area so quickly and with no pressure something has to give. Don't think Fagan should have the the two youngsters in the forward line at the same time. And didn't think Bewick played that badly certainly a lot better than some of the others. Cedric Cox played a decent game as well. Pity about Christensen a bit of maturity and toughness in the forward line would be a bonus.
Penster
Roar Guru
There's an idea - call them the Fitzroy/Brisbane/Hobart Wilburys. Started in Fitzroy, fail, moved to Brisbane as the Bears, fail, reincarnated as the Lions ....... looking like a fail again. Ship em down to Hobart and see what happens, if that fails, try Darwin, NZ & China (sorry Kochie).
Paul D
Roar Guru
Just the 3 game membership, not a full one. I have a lot of competing demands for my time on weekends. Cricket umpiring & orchestra commitments mean it's hard to get to every game, but I watch most of them on TV if I can't be there.
Liam Salter
Roar Guru
Just curious Paul, are you a member of the Lions?
George
Guest
Sorry about misspelling Schache. Big difference Schache vs Schade :-) I would not be surprised if Schache goes as new facilities is probably still 3 years to go at best. Why AFL does not wipe out Lions debt is beyond me. Do they expect them to repay it? Some extra salary incentives may be necessary. I have to say I am very happy with Suns besides signing key players being able to extend all 4 top 10 picks to 4 years. New facilities definitely helped.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Honestly if we were to lose Schache or McLuggage after their minimum contract expires I'm done. Would not put another $ into supporting this club until such time as the AFL is prepared to give us leverage or power to retain players. I think your post actually understates the impact lack of facilities have - right now there are 17 other clubs that are more appealing destinations than Brisbane and we are somehow supposed to hold onto elite talents with the same payroll as everyone else. Anyone who is coming through who is remotely elite will get just get ripped out of the list by a rival club at this rate.
SportsFanGC
Roar Guru
It cannot be underestimated how big a difference having Elite Training and Administration Facilities is to an AFL Club. All 17 Clubs other than Brisbane have such a facility (or in the case of West Coast currently building their brand new $50M Centre to be opened in 2018) and it is a huge incentive to bring a player to your Club along with a big incentive to keep the players at your Club. You only have to look at the fantastic facility that has opened here on the Gold Coast at Carrara that the Suns now call home. The staff and players were so stoked to move in there and get to work and they suddenly joined all of the big Victorian, SA and WA Clubs operating from professional premises. They have re-signed all key players at the Club with the last to put pen to paper being Steven May (rumors that the CBA finalization is holding up this deal presently). Fremantle may just have moved into the best facility in the country at Cockburn regardless of which code is your preference. Brisbane have the added difficulty of retaining players in Queensland, which is a non-traditional AFL state and a city where the Brisbane Broncos rule the roost with saturation media coverage and having not played finals in 8 years and counting. Fagan has begun the steps in the right direction getting the memorabilia and the Players Race put in at the Gabba to show some pride and respect for the jumper. Now if they can just update the Lions signage at the Gabba to use the 2017 Logo and not the 2002 Logo they will be even further on the right track (Gate 2 in particular!). As a hypothetical: Four draftees from Vic Metro are best mates and played all their TAC Cup Footy together enter the 2017 Draft. One is picked up by Fremantle, one is picked up by Essendon, one is picked up Adelaide and the last one is drafted to Brisbane. Those guys will continue to talk to each other about their experiences at “work” and the kid in Brisbane is going to be pretty sharp that not only is he in a city that doesn’t care too much about the Lions at the moment but his three best mates work from epic facilities in AFL cities that treat them like celebrities. Not hard to see why retention is an issue and will continue to be for Brisbane until the AFL step in and assist and by assist I mean seriously use all their abilities to wipe the Lions debt and make this ETAF happen ASAP or risk the Lions sliding further out of the public consciousness.
Paul D
Roar Guru
I think you mean Schache - if we could deliver a ball lace out to Schade on the Gold Coast I'd be calling in WADA Lester & Bewick are a necessary evil as mature aged stuffing to a kid heavy list - I call them the barometer of our success, because I'll know we're getting good again when they don't get a game
Keagan Ryan
Roar Guru
The delivery I50 was appalling against Richmond - so frustrating to watch. Lester has actually been pretty solid this year. He's contributing to our better phases of play and really doing the roles asked of him, which have been a variety of back, mid and forward. He's never going to get 25+ touches but you can count on him, which is what we need. He also brings leadership qualities, evident but his elevation to the leadership group. Bewick I agree with you more, especially considering how well he played through JLT. After his preseason I backed him in for a really solid year. I think there are more pressing players on the chopping block (particularly McStay), but Bewick would want to find his feet soon.
DingoGray
Roar Guru
I too find both Lester and Bewick the two most frustrating players. Nick Robertson is another this year that's doing my head in. In relation to Bewick, I think he's been pretty good this year. Lester, I just can't see it. But he's clearly loved by someone in Brisbane.