Brisbane coach Chris Fagan says there’s ‘danger everywhere

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan declared there’s “danger everywhere” as the defending premiers prepare to be hunted in 2025 as he also did his best to prepare for the more immediate danger of his “first cyclone ever”, with safety at the front of mind for all his players, staff and their families.

Fagan stepped out of a coaches meeting on Tuesday morning fully expecting Thursday’s opening round clash with Geelong to be postponed, having spent the previous night securing outdoor furniture at his Brisbane apartment with Cyclone Alfred fast approaching.

He said it felt like being “back in Covid” with so much uncertainty around and fear of the cyclone and its potential damage via winds and heavy rain “lurking all week” while trying to go about business as usual preparing for not only the opening round clash with the Cats but the following weeks in a bid to avoid last year’s slow start.

Throwing sandbagging into the mix ensured focus couldn’t be fully on Geelong, but Fagan said challenges were nothing new to the Lions.

“It feels like we are back in Covid and there’s all this uncertainty around. Those feelings have come flooding back,” he said.

“We have had unusual things up here, like the lights going out, and now a cyclone, but that’s life. You deal with it.

“There would be some doing that (sandbagging), depending on where they live. We have staff who live on the coastline, which is more of a worry

“Boys have young families and we have to look at the welfare of people first and foremost.”

But neither Fagan nor the players were sitting on their hands waiting for the cyclone, much like they are not standing still going into the new season as champions still “hungry” to taste premiership success again.

They have moved on so much, Fagan even suggested the traditional unfurling of the premiership flag, which was slotted in for Thursday, was potentially unnecessary.

“We had the celebration last year in September when we won. We don’t need another celebration in March to be honest,” he said.

“I know it’s tradition to unfurl the flag, but we’ve moved on from that fantastic moment.

“You can’t look back. If feels like the competition is more even than it’s ever been. There’s teams which didn’t play finals last year are looming, there’s danger everywhere, so you just have to keep grounded.

“We’ve talked about that all summer. From what I have seen in the pre-season, and one of the big guides is how they turn up for training … the boys have ticked all those boxes week in and week out.

“I’m not sensing any complacency or ego or sense of entitlement, all those things you have to look out for when you have a little bit of success. The group is hungry again.

“There’s about seven months of work to do, a lot can happen in that time.”