Coach Fages and the coaching group

[lioninthesand]

You were talking about the rumours you were hearing from inside the club RE clarko, right? Out of curiosity, what do you make of Clarko being at our game yesterday when North were playing at the same time across town? Has it impacted your thoughts at all?

I didn’t hear rumours from inside the club, but I’ve had people saying the Fagan to Clarkson hand over is a real possibility. ‘They heard months ago, can’t believe it’s being spoken about now I thought it was BS’ - but nothing with much substance.

His Daughter apparently lives in Brissy and is dating a Lions VFL player? Not sure if that’s true.

He was 100% there yesterday, he was watching on level 3 sitting by himself wearing a beanie (had an incognito vibe about it), confirmed by multiple people including someone I was with who spoke to him in passing.

I have no idea. I think it’s odd he would be at our game with a North game on at the same time, but it could be as simple as ‘he loves going to the footy and it was going to be a cracking game’.

I think there is a chance there has been informal talks, most likely around ‘could you wait until 2024’ when Fagans contract is up as I believe he has no intention of coaching on.

If he declares he is sitting out another year, I think we would just about become favourites to land him.

 

[davemc_lions]

In: Stone, Bruce
Out: Daly, Tapping

thanks Daly still there
so add Noble out as well

I really like Fagan although seems to lack big changes during a game if the tide turns
very rarely some hail mary move or something out of the box.
We just keep on keeping on to we over run.

 

[dlanod]

thanks Daly still there

Daly is there but shifted to a front office role.

 

[M Malice]

how many assistants have we turned over since Fagan came.
Pretty sure he kept all Leepa's
We still getting beaten like we did in 2019 out of centre stoppage with no defense and speed around the ground..
So something has to change
Might not be Fagan although an assistant or two

Lack of ability to gut run is a huge concern and that it is multi year occurrence makes it even more so going forward. FWIW I think it is more player/list management staff/conditioning staff issue than coaching and in saying that Fages would have some input into recruitment decisions, how much is anyone's guess.

 

[Bucking Beads]

Absolutely love Fages and everything he has done for our club but just feels like he has no answers on how to get more out of this group. We’ve regressed this year in our development now. He’s just not hard enough on them. They need a whack or 2!

 

[Jeremiah001]

Tap into Lachie Neale

9

Lachie Neale

Age

31

Ht

177cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

27.0

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

15.5

5star

M

4.0

4star

T

3.7

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

28.3

5star

K

13.9

5star

HB

14.4

5star

M

4.6

4star

T

4.0

5star

CL

5.9

5star

D

12.0

3star

K

4.6

2star

HB

7.4

5star

M

2.0

3star

T

1.0

3star

CL

0.4

3star

's inside knowledge on David Mundy

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David Mundy

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39

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192cm

Wt

92kg

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Mid

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Last 5

D

23.1

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K

11.2

4star

HB

11.8

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M

3.6

4star

T

4.3

5star

CL

5.1

5star

D

15.7

4star

K

6.7

3star

HB

9.0

4star

M

2.3

2star

T

2.7

4star

CL

3.7

5star

D

27.8

5star

K

15.4

5star

HB

12.4

5star

M

5.8

5star

T

6.2

5star

CL

7.2

5star

. Is he somebody looking to go down the coaching road? Does he have the attributes to be an assistant coach at AFL level? If he has the attributes, then we have the need to refresh our our coaching department. Wont find a person with more, recent experience. A hard worker and obviously a resilient character. No harm in checking it out.

 

[lioninthesand]

Fagan was just asked about ‘handing the job over to an old colleague’ by Whatley on 360. Crazy this rumour has made it that far.

Fagan said he has no plans of handing it over (laughed it off) and said he wants to coach beyond next year, which I was surprised by - I was sure he said this contract would his last.

Anyway, I think he can be the man to take us forward and wouldn’t be againts another contract, but we need a Cats style assistant restructure and he needs a credible senior assistant in there to support him.

Spoke well on 360 - feel a lot better after watching it.

I’m not putting a line through the Clarko stuff just yet, what else is going to say? He did say, ‘it’s not up to me’ so it wasn’t absolutely categoric - but as close to as you could get.

 

[M Malice]

Fagan was just asked about ‘handing the job over to an old colleague’ by Whatley on 360. Crazy this rumour has made it that far.

Fagan said he has no plans of handing it over (laughed it off) and said he wants to coach beyond next year, which I was surprised by - I was sure he said this contract would his last.

Anyway, I think he can be the man to take us forward and wouldn’t be againts another contract, but we need a Cats style assistant restructure and he needs a credible senior assistant in there to support him.

Spoke well on 360 - feel a lot better after watching it.

I’m not putting a line through the Clarko stuff just yet, what else is going to say? He did say, ‘it’s not up to me’ so it wasn’t absolutely categoric - but as close to as you could get.

Did he acknowledge our lack of defensive run?

 

[briztoon]

Did he acknowledge our lack of defensive run?

No.

 

[briztoon]

Fagan was just asked about ‘handing the job over to an old colleague’ by Whatley on 360. Crazy this rumour has made it that far.

Fagan said he has no plans of handing it over (laughed it off) and said he wants to coach beyond next year, which I was surprised by - I was sure he said this contract would his last.

Anyway, I think he can be the man to take us forward and wouldn’t be againts another contract, but we need a Cats style assistant restructure and he needs a credible senior assistant in there to support him.

Spoke well on 360 - feel a lot better after watching it.

I’m not putting a line through the Clarko stuff just yet, what else is going to say? He did say, ‘it’s not up to me’ so it wasn’t absolutely categoric - but as close to as you could get.

Couldn’t look at the camera when talking about McStay potentially leaving and the discussions he’s had with Dan.

 

[pulpdriver]

No.

He did. Though disappointingly he said (paraphrasing) 'it's probably what we've worked on most'. Haven't seen any improvement there if it's been worked on.

 

[briztoon]

He did. Though disappointingly he said (paraphrasing) 'it's probably what we've worked on most'. Haven't seen any improvement there if it's been worked on.

Apologies, I missed that.

 

[McIvor]

Dont know much about Giants' McVeigh but loved his presser and passion and certainly not afraid to give the team a whack. I wouldnt know the first thing if he can coach,weather hes rated or not, but if Fagan stays, put the broom threw the assistants and get some passionate guys. every time I see our assistants at trainings, reserves, hey seem like the players mates. Are they genuinely hard on the players in turn?

 

[davemc_lions]

Dont know much about Giants' McVeigh but loved his presser and passion and certainly not afraid to give the team a whack. I wouldnt know the first thing if he can coach,weather hes rated or not, but if Fagan stays, put the broom threw the assistants and get some passionate guys. every time I see our assistants at trainings, reserves, hey seem like the players mates. Are they genuinely hard on the players in turn?

if Fagan wants to go on and I honestly do not have a problem with Fagan.
He is a great people person.
Said before I say it again we need some better assistants I would ask McVeigh the question.
I also look at a ex coach or someone who done a lot of VFL/SANFL and WAFL coaching teams.
See if they want to come on.
Think our mids been stale for a while.

 

[dlanod]

Dont know much about Giants' McVeigh but loved his presser and passion and certainly not afraid to give the team a whack. I wouldnt know the first thing if he can coach,weather hes rated or not, but if Fagan stays, put the broom threw the assistants and get some passionate guys. every time I see our assistants at trainings, reserves, hey seem like the players mates. Are they genuinely hard on the players in turn?

McVeigh is only giving them a whack because it's now as obvious as dogs bollocks that he won't be coaching them next season. They've had similar stinkers but bounced back and McVeigh went out to bat for them, probably because it's unlikely he keeps the senior position if he starts throwing a cat amongst any pigeons as a caretaker. Now, well he has nothing to lose, and if he points at the players maybe he'll find a nice assistant spot next year.

I would not go shopping at any long term Giants assistant, like McVeigh. It was notorious amongst our fans as being very comfortable positions - those that had higher aims moved on quickly.

 

[Grasshopper17]

Well, Fagan's growth as a Coach will come from giving out tough love to some of his favorites. I'm hoping that happens next year at least before his contract runs out. If it's up to me, I'll give Fagan another 2-3 years and get some strong assistants around him. I like him as a Coach, he has great ability to create strong team buy-in which I like.

Consistency in output is the only thing players are missing and that needs to be driven from top down by the Coach. If you're not demanding excellence every step of the way and challenge mediocre outputs regardless of who it is, then rot sets in pretty quick.

The first bolded is most likely a load of bollocks. I'd be surprised if most of the players even watch the pressers. At times I wonder if the player who sometimes fronts up really takes it in.

The second bolded is the crux of the matter. What you really want is some display that they are hurting as much as you are. I get it to an extent. But their disappointment is a different kind to what we feel. They have control over a situation whereas we don't. Their brains are likely switching to fix-it mode and tearing down players confidences isn't going to achieve what people hope it might. Public bakings do more to erode trust than build it, that for sure.

You're right, the fatherly approach, while beneficial up until now, may prevent him taking the next step as a coach. But everything I hear from comments by players over the years is that the warm fuzzy Fages that we see isn't the one the players get behind closed doors.

I guess what I'm trying to get at is don't mistake what's best for you as a supporter is the same as what's best for the team.

Came across this tonight. Absolute chalk and cheese. Team wins a game, coach not happy and more than willing to tell the world about it. This bloke is a proven winner, at ALL levels:

Ange Postecoglou critical after Celtic’s season-opening win

The Hoops got their title defence off to a winning start.

www.sen.com.au

There is only 1 situation it would be a good thing and that is if Oscar goes down. That is a 1/22 gamble.

Even if joe/McStay went down today, a runner coming in would have been ideal.

There is no genius/fool/heindsight situation here IMO, it was an absolute howler, that a lot of us have been predicting would f*** us over and it did.

Massive error, that should NEVER, ever.. ever… ever… happen again.

I'd be OK with us going with a ruckman as the sub against teams like St Kilda (if Ryder and Marshall both play) and Melbourne (if Gawn and Jackson both play). Horses for courses. It was the wrong call yesterday, if nothing else for the way Richmond tries to move the ball.

Just two points that haven’t been raised by anyone else yet.

1) Fagan was asked why the selection of Fort?

And he answered that, that is something the club would like to keep in-house.

I’m wondering if one of our talls is carrying an injury they are worried about.


2) Danny Daly is our Director of Football. Was he hired by Fagan, or inherited? I wonder if there is a strong voice that can challenge Fagan, since Noble moved on.

He said on AFL360 tonight it was in case Oscar got injured. This was the same line as when Fort came on vs St Kilda. But I smell BS... the rationale makes sense, even though I don't agree with it (for this game). But either way, why not simply come out with that last night? I still think there was another reason...

Not his fault Zorko, Robbo and Lyons are cooked and Rayner and Bailey aren't instantly A graders.

It is (at least partly) his fault though for continuing to select them.

 

[Morbidly_Obese]

We need to get Nigel Lappin back somehow.

 

[CarterS]

Fagan plays a straight bat even in the post game press conferences to pretty mundane questions so there is no way in the world that he would say anything even if there was something to it. Maybe it is wishful thinking but if you look at it from Clarkson's perspective, would you rather go to GWS, North, or us? We are by far the most attractive proposition, I think.

 

[Dalions]

I'd be OK with us going with a ruckman as the sub against teams like St Kilda (if Ryder and Marshall both play) and Melbourne (if Gawn and Jackson both play). Horses for courses. It was the wrong call yesterday, if nothing else for the way Richmond tries to move the ball.

If Fages wants to play a 2 ruck set up, and it appears pretty clear that he does.
Then he has to play a 2 ruck set up. Because picking a second ruck as a sub is just plain wrong.
We looked quite good earlier in the year with the both of them, so just do it.
In: Darcy Fort
Out: Dan McStay

 

[martinson]

If Fages wants to play a 2 ruck set up, and it appears pretty clear that he does.
Then he has to play a 2 ruck set up. Because picking a second ruck as a sub is just plain wrong.
We looked quite good earlier in the year with the both of them, so just do it.
In: Darcy Fort
Out: Dan McStay

No brainer tbh.

 

[Squizz89]

Summary of Fages’ interview on 360 last night.

‘Unless someone knows something’: Lions coach addresses Clarko rumours

‘Unless they know something I don’t’: Fagan responds to Clarko rumours amid shock swap claim

www.foxsports.com.au

As lioninthesand said probably the biggest shock for me is he sounds pretty keen to continue on after next year. Obviously things can change but he never struck me as a career coach and seemed keen to get back to Victoria with all of his family. Maybe he thinks we are a lot closer to a flag than a lot of us here.

 

[McIvor]

No brainer tbh.

Absolutely - McStay doesnt want to be here isnt going all out and Fagan wants the security of two rucks. Be done with it, play O and Fort and Joe and Eric up forward. Why waste your time on a set up that (A) isnt working and (B) investing time in a set up where we know a player wont be at the club.

Same can be said for Robinson as much as I've loved him. It seems evident to me on the socials that he'll either retire or will be delisted and he and the club know. Now Im all for playing him if he is still having a Mundy impact on the game - but hes not, so why play him at the expense of the future development in either Deven or Jaxon. Partiulalry Deven who will learn so much and surely must be better for his development playing in the final 3 high pressure games + finals. Give him freedom by guaranteeing him that he is playing the season out so he doesnt have that monkey on his back that he is a poor half away from being dropped. Thats my view anyway.

 

[McIvor]

Summary of Fages’ interview on 360 last night.

‘Unless someone knows something’: Lions coach addresses Clarko rumours

‘Unless they know something I don’t’: Fagan responds to Clarko rumours amid shock swap claim

www.foxsports.com.au

As lioninthesand said probably the biggest shock for me is he sounds pretty keen to continue on after next year. Obviously things can change but he never struck me as a career coach and seemed keen to get back to Victoria with all of his family. Maybe he thinks we are a lot closer to a flag than a lot of us here.

Or watch it

 

[BrizzyBandit]

I just saw Swanny and David Noble grabbing lunch together at the Norman hotel in Brissy.

A return to Brissy perhaps?

 

[Pride of lions]

I think losing Dale Tapping as our midfield coach could be a major factor in the drop off in our midfield pressure and performance this year. I seem to recall that Neale,Lyons etc had a lot of respect for him and I wonder if there is a bit of disenchantment with the new midfield coach. Just a gut feeling looking at the body language of guys like Lyons who seem a bit disgruntled.
Could be completely wrong but things just haven’t looked quite right this year. What I don’t understand is why we can’t seem to adjust when we suffer the same issues in the centre square almost every week.