FORMER Hawthorn General Manager of Football Chris Fagan believes his time at Waverley Park was a key reason behind becoming the new senior coach of the Brisbane Lions.
Speaking to the media today after being unveiled as the Lions’ new coach, Fagan said there was no better place to hone his coaching and development skills than Hawthorn.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to sit in the coaches’ box at the Hawthorn Football Club for the last nine years and that’s probably been, you’d have to say, the best coaches’ box in the country for that period of time,” he said.
“So I’ve learned a lot from Alastair Clarkson and all the other coaches there.
“The Hawthorn Football Club is a bit like a football university in a sense, the number of people its developed.”
Fagan said he was keen to instil some of the Hawthorn values into the Brisbane Lions, who parted ways with former coach Justin Leppitsch at the conclusion of the home-and-away season.
“I think the Hawthorn Football Club where I worked were the benchmark team in that area, where players sacrifice for each other and they care for each other,” he said.
“So from a cultural perspective, they’re the sort of values we’re trying to build into the team.”
