Brisbane great Simon Black described it as the secret ingredient behind the Lions premiership success. During the reign of Chris Fagan, who became the oldest VFL/AFL premiership coach in history on Saturday, the Lions have had a motto when it comes to recruiting players. “The best thing that sums him up is that when they draft a player, they don’t just draft the player, they draft the family.
That’s what Fages is about,” Black said. The Norm Smith Medallist when Brisbane won its third premiership in succession in 2003, Black was among a throng of club legends celebrating in the rooms on Saturday night. Watch every game of the NAB AFL Women’s Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo.
New to Kayo? Start your free trial today > THE CULTURE CLUB As the 2024 premiership side jetted north to Brisbane to head to the club’s Springfield base to be presented to fans after the AFLW match on Sunday, Black and others were flocking at The Royal Derby in Fitzroy to celebrate a reunion of the 2003 triumph. It could be raucous. Black, who won the 2002 Brownlow Medal, served as an assistant coach at the Lions at a time when the club struggled for wins during the tenures of his former teammates and Brisbane favourite sons Michael Voss and Justin Leppitsch between 2010 and 2016.
By 2016 the Lions had completely lost their roar, winning just three games for the year while losing the other 19 by an average margin of 10 goals, their successful margin over the Swans .