PRIDE OF THE CLAN
Proud of her boy … and he’s proud of his state
WHEN the Brisbane Lions run onto the Gabba tonight for their AFL semi-final against GWS, the Pride of the Lions will not be more alive than in the Hobart lounge room of Beth and Austin Fagan.
Their son, Chris Fagan, has in three years transformed the team.
“He’s worked hard to achieve everything he’s done,” Beth said. “We’re very proud of him.”
Fagan has meanwhile told the Mercury that no matter what happens with the Lions this month, the happiest day of his life would still be to see a Tassie team run on to the MCG in the AFL.
WHEN the Brisbane Lions run onto the Gabba tonight for their AFL semi-final against GWS, the Pride of the Lions will not be more alive than in the Hobart lounge room of Beth and Austin Fagan.
Their son, Christian Fagan, is coach of the Lions and in three years at the helm has transformed Brisbane from an AFL rabble to premiership contender.
The Lions finished second on the ladder, lost last week to Richmond and now face the Giants for a spot in the preliminary final against Collingwood at the MCG next week.
Next stop, the MCG on grand final day.
After being assistantcoach at Melbourne and then head of football at Hawthorn during its golden age, the success of Chris as a coach in his own right has Beth and Austin glowing with pride.
“He has worked very hard to achieve everything he’s done in football,” Beth said.
“He has always given 110 per cent.
“In the back of his mind he always hoped he’d be an AFL coach one day and it has taken a long time to get to the ultimate and we are very proud of him and very humble about it all really.
“I get a bit embarrassed when people come up to me and talk to me about it, because it’s his job.
“I don’t look like it as ‘geez, he’s an AFL coach’, he’s just doing his job, like Tim Paine is doing as captain of the Australian cricket team.”
There is one quality Beth admires most about Chris.
“You could be a good footballer, a good cricketer, or the best batsman or bowler in the world, but that does not necessarily make you a good leader of men,” she said. “Chris is a good leader of men.”
Beth, 81, and Austin, 85, have two other sons, Grant and David, and a daughter Anne-Maree.
“We are all very proud of Chris as a family and we follow him and what he does,” Beth said.
“He is a leader of men. He’s a great teacher. He was a great schoolteacher and he loved his kids. The boys in Brisbane just love him.”
On the occasions Beth and Austin get to Brisbane to the footy, the Lions bend over backwards to make them feel at home.
“They are a great football club and they are so good to us,” Beth said.
“When he got the job I said to Chris we would love to see him win a grand final, and he just gave a bit of a laugh,” Beth said.
The Fagans are from Tasmania’s West Coast.
“I’m from Gormanston — so I’m a Gormy girl — and Austin is from Queenstown,” Beth said.
“The boys grew up playing football on the gravel oval in Queenstown and when Chris started college that’s when we moved to Hobart.
“We are proud of all our kids and we all just want Chris to be successful because of all the hard work he puts in.”
More AFL reports: Sport