Never played AFL, too old? If this is Fagan’s farewell, he’s broken the mould

September 26, 2026 — 5:00am

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We know that the 2026 grand final will be the final time that Lachie Neale takes the field for the Brisbane Lions, a fact established by the AFL appeals tribunal’s astonishing verdict less than 48 hours before the game.

What is much less certain, yet no less important, is the possibility that this will be the final game in the extraordinary story – and it is a hell of a story, rather than a mere “career” – of Chris Fagan’s period as coach of a club that was anchored near the bottom when he took the wheel 10 years ago.

Then, the Lions struggled to retain young talent, much less land players with the standing of Neale and Luke Hodge, and were mired in a mountain of debt that reached frightening levels, and rendered the Lions reliant on heavy AFL backing.

While the see-sawing Neale tribunal circus has owned pre-grand final coverage, Fagan’s future has been a subterranean topic, in a manner befitting the coach’s understated style.

Fagan is not an artful dodger when handling media, or anyone. And so when the question of his immediate future arose at Friday’s media conference, he didn’t duck it. He started by saying that he was focusing on the grand final, and that every year, he had a discussion with the club chief executive and president. He would do the same again this post-season.

“But I honestly don’t know at this point in time whether I’ll keep going or not.” He added: “But I was like that last year and the year before.

“There’ll be a few more discussions about that, but it’s not the big issue.”

It’s not the big issue, in part, because Fagan doesn’t allow it to be so.

Leigh Matthews, with characteristic straight talk, had put the issue of Fagan’s future on the agenda on Fox Footy this week, speculating that this finale might be Fagan’s last game.

Matthews, who has dinner with Fagan every Wednesday during footy season, was wearing his hat as commentator, rather than as Brisbane Lions board member and confidant of the coach.

Lions chairman Andrew Wellington told this masthead that he expected Fagan to coach in 2027, as contracted. His manager James Henderson said: “We often talk about the future, always have. Our last D&M [deep and meaningful conversation] about this was at the start of July when he was excited as ever in his belief of this playing group.

“Since then, he’s been fully focused on getting Brisbane deep into September, and being in their fourth grand final in a row is a special achievement for everyone involved in the club.

“It’s well known that he reflects at the end of each season, and this year will be no different.”

Whether Fagan opts........

© Brisbane Times