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Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has addressed speculation that coaching great Alastair Clarkson could take over as head coach of the Lions next season.
With Clarkson strongly linked to a coaching return through either GWS or North Melbourne, online murmurs began to spread about the potential passing of the torch between Fagan and Clarkson at the Lions.
The pair had previously worked together during Hawthorn's dynasty between 2008-2015, where they won four premierships, with Fagan as the club's football boss and Clarkson as senior coach.
Speaking on Fox Footy's AFL 360, Fagan categorically shut down the rumours when asked, reiterating his commitment to the Lions beyond 2022.
"It's not my job to hand over in the first place...no is the firm answer to that question," he said.
"I've got a contract for next year and hopefully the team can continue to do well and the club is keen to keep me for a while longer.
"I love coaching the Lions and that's what I'll be doing next year unless someone knows something I don't know."
After suffering a second-half collapse in Sunday's loss to the Tigers, pundits began to put a line through Brisbane's premiership chances as they slipped to fifth position on the ladder.
However, Fagan said the club is focused on their three remaining games of the season, including a final-round blockbuster against the Demons, rather than listening to outside opinion.
"I understand people want to comment on the game and they've got to have strong opinions, because that's why people want to watch and listen to media," Fagan said.
"But we can't get caught up in that. This time last year we had to win our last three games to finish in the top four and even that wasn't guaranteed...you just take each win as it comes.
"It's a really tough and tight competition. If we can get back to our really best form, which we showed a strong glimpse of (against Richmond) in the first half, then there's no reason why we can't be really competitive come September.
"We're not a perfect team, we've got strengths and weaknesses like every other team. But when we play at our best we're pretty hard to beat."
An area of concern for the Lions in recent weeks has been their defence. Since Round 10, the side is ranked 16th for points conceded, 18th for points conceded from their defensive half, and is the 15th easiest team to score against once the ball is inside 50.
While Fagan confirmed that defence had been a focus at training in recent weeks, he also highlighted the lack of continuity amongst defensive figures, with the side losing several players due to COVID and injury in the past month.
"It's a work in progress for us, we have had a fair turnover of players, particularly in our backline since the Melbourne game (in Round 15)," he said.
"I think we've had 14 different players down there play for various reasons, not that defence is just about the backline, but we haven't had a lot of continuity with our boys.
"Hopefully we can build that back up over the next few weeks and have the same seven or eight players playing there each week."
The Lions face Carlton on Sunday afternoon (3:20 pm AEST) at the Gabba, with a chance to return to the top four on offer for Fagan's side.