Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Chris Fagan remains in two minds about continuing his triumphant AFL coaching career, saying it would be nice to go out on top.
Fagan knows it sounds weird for a three-time premiership coach to be wondering aloud about retirement, but he does not want to mistime his departure.
A decade after taking over Brisbane when they were a rabble, Fagan is now only the seventh VFL/AFL coach to mastermind a premiership three-peat.
He joins his confidant Leigh Matthews, who coached the Lions to the 2001-03 flags, while Brisbane join Melbourne as the only VFL/AFL clubs to boast two three-peats.
“I don’t really want to be that guy who hangs around until we fail,” Fagan said after Saturday’s stunning comeback win over Fremantle.
“There’s a little bit inside me that would rather walk away when the team’s on top … a dream way to finish.
“It might sound a bit of a strange thing, because you probably think I should be pumping the air and getting ready to go again.
“But I don’t quite think about things in the same way perhaps as what everybody else does.”
Fagan added a decision would be made soon.
Perhaps thinking of long-time friend Alastair Clarkson and his brutal demise at North Melbourne, Clarkson noted that most coaches end up sacked.
Clarkson coached Hawthorn to the only other three-peat this century, but his time at North Melbourne ended in disaster.
“For most coaches, unfortunately, it ends in tragedy – usually, you’ve been given the boot,” Fagan said.
“I just have to work out whether I still have energy required.”
There has been growing speculation that Fagan might step down after this grand final.
The medal presented to Fagan as the premiership coach is named after Collingwood great Jock McHale – the only man to engineer a four-peat.
But Fagan was adamant that piece of history did not interest him.
“I respect history … but I’ve never been a coach for any personal glory. I just don’t think about those things,” he said.
But he was rapt to join Matthews as a three-peat coach.
“I’m happy with that and I’m happy I’ve played my part in that … we’ve been able to do the same as what Leigh’s team did,” he said.
At 65, Fagan said if he stepped away from coaching he might keep a role in the game, but certainly not with the intensity of his senior role.
“It is a lifestyle, it never leaves you alone, 365 days a year,” he said.
“It’s just always in your head.
“I love all that, but you can’t do that forever.”
Fagan was at his impish best in the post-match media conference. He was asked about the couple of times this season when Brisbane had lost badly and their three-peat credentials were questioned severely.
“It looked poo – it was poo, wasn’t it? Be honest, it was no good,” he said.
