Brisbane's secret to keeping premiership stars: respect and belonging
Brisbane's coaching culture may matter as much as draft advantages in keeping its team together.
After Brisbane's premiership win, focus often lands on structural advantages like the father-son draft and academy access that brought stars like Will Ashcroft and Harris Andrews to the club. Brisbane's coaching culture may be the real glue.
Coach Chris Fagan's approach, looking each player in the eye at the best and fairest and explaining their unique role, creates an environment where players want to stay. Fagan never played at AFL level, so his authority rests on respect rather than playing credentials.
Money clearly matters in professional sport. But the longer you spend in elite sport, the more you value happiness.
Culture is much harder to measure than draft picks or salary caps. Yet it may be what makes players want to stay.
- father-son system
- Ashcroft entry
- Brisbane Lions Academy
- Andrews entry
- never played AFL
- Fagan's playing career
Why it mattersReveals an often-overlooked reason successful clubs hold their lists together: culture beats money and rules when it comes to player retention.
AustraliaExplains why Brisbane's premiership team looks likely to stay intact, while showing other AFL clubs the limits of structural advantages without a strong coaching culture.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 57 min ago
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