Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has opened up on the challenges and discussion points surrounding the selection of dual Brownlow Medalist Lachie Neale in Brisbane's grand final team.
Speaking at his post-game press conference, the two-time premiership coach indicated that he was aware of the scrutiny that surrounded the decision to select Neale as the sub, but reiterated that he was fit to play.
After suffering a calf injury in the qualifying final which appeared as though it would end his season, Neale returned for the grand final.
The match committee's brave decision was franked when he came on after halftime and influenced with his fresh legs, amassing 17 disposals and kicking a goal late in the third quarter that put a dagger in Geelong's chances.
“I was lying in bed last night thinking ‘I'm going to either look like a total idiot or a total genius after today's game',” Fagan said.
“If we had have lost and he only played a half, you'd probably be bemoaning we went about it in that way.
“The bottom line was this: Lachie was fit to play but how much game time could he play because basically, he had played one game in eight weeks.
“One game in 56 days. And coming into a grand final, I was a little bit worried about his ability to see the whole game out if he had to actually start.
“Lachie and I had a good chat during the week (and I said) ‘I want to play you mate, if you're good to go, but this is the bit of the puzzle we have to sort out' and he and I both agreed the best way to do it was for him to start off as the sub and introduce him into the game.
“I didn't know when that was going to be, but it felt right to do it at halftime.
“I felt grateful that we were equal, and I thought he came on and (brought) great energy in the second half. It was a bit of a bold plan that came off but it might not have too.”
It's been a journey for Fagan to summit the mountain twice, taking over a side that was really struggling nine seasons ago.
After two years of minimal win-loss improvement, the Lions went through four seasons of positioning themselves well for a flag tilt before falling short in finals.
The mantra of needing to ‘lose one to win one' rang true in 2023 before the last two triumphs.
“The one we won this year - gee there's been a lot of adversity and challenges,” Fagan said.
“We had the toughest draw, I think that's been pretty well documented, we had a lot of blokes who played in last year's grand final who didn't play in today's grand final.
“We went out there with a lot of 22-and-unders playing so it all bodes well for the club as long as we stay calm and don't get ahead of ourselves. It's been an amazing ride.
“They're such a good group of men.
“They handled the premiership win last year well, I thought and that's not easy to do because you get a lot of accolades when you win premierships and that's quite intoxicating.
“The boys turned up in good shape in pre-season even though we had a lot of blokes who had surgeries and went to work again and found a way to do what we did today…”
“We've got a famous Nelson Mandela quote on our wall: we never lose, we either win or we learn and that's the attitude we have tried to take, and I think everybody's embraced that at the footy club.
“Today's a good example: we got a lesson from Geelong three weeks ago and we went to work on it.
“We obviously had to win two finals to get another chance but hopefully today you see that we learned some things from that game, did some things better and we end up with a premiership so I'm very proud of the group.”
Fagan admitted some doubt crept in about whether Brisbane would be able to win the premiership following the comprehensive qualifying final defeat to the same opponent.
The Cats put on a clinic three weeks ago, with the 38-point margin belying the significant gulf between the two sides on that night.
“That night we over-handballed and brought pressure on ourselves and they caused turnovers and got us on the outside,” Fagan said.
“Today we just had the view that if we can get our hands on the footy at a stoppage, we're gonna get it out of there as quickly as we can and get it out into the open which I think we did successfully.”
Fagan also spoke glowingly about back-to-back Norm Smith Medalist Will Ashcroft.
Still only 21 and having missed half of his first season with an ACL injury, Ashcroft has embraced the big stage in the last two finals series and a 33-disposal, 10-clearance day drove the Lions home on Saturday.
“He's had a very, very positive impact, he's a real professional, he loves the big games,” Fagan said.
“He's tough, not just a skilful player, a tough player as well and he's still young.
“He seems to take things in his stride as well.
“He's had a great finals series and I couldn't be more proud of him.”
