AFL

Chris Fagan has stepped down as Brisbane Lions coach, ending a decade in charge that took the club from the bottom of the ladder to the top of the AFL for three consecutive seasons.

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The 65-year-old has confirmed he is leaving the club just days after the Lions’ third straight premiership with a year still to run on his contract.

“This club has never been in greater shape and the list profile would suggest this,” Fagan said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

“The boys will continue to contend and I’ll be their number one fan, but a fresh face at the helm will be a key pillar for the players to come back to next season, as they work hard to achieve more success.” 

Fagan’s decision follows his side’s stunning seven-point grand final win over Fremantle at the MCG, sealed after the Lions came from 17 points down with four minutes left, kicking four goals in as many minutes.

Fagan took over from three-time Lions premiership-winning player Justin Leppitsch in 2017 and turned a wooden-spoon side into back-to-back-to-back premiers, a feat achieved by just four other men in the history of footy — Jock McHale, Norm Smith, Leigh Matthews and Alastair Clarkson.

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Already the oldest premiership coach in VFL/AFL history, the writing was on the wall in the moments after the full-time siren last Saturday when Fagan admitted he had to decide whether he still has the ‘energy required’ for the relentless pressure of the job, admitting most coaches leave after being sacked and indicating that a third straight premiership would be an ideal way to finish.

Delirious Lions fans pleaded with him to stay as chants of ‘one more year’ rang out at the club’s Victorian family day on Sunday, but to no avail.

Fagan’s exit leaves one of the premier jobs in the AFL vacant and gives the Lions the not-so-small task of finding a successor to a man who has just won three premierships in a row.

Early favourite for the top job in 2027 is Danny Daly who has been the Lions’ head of football since 2020.

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