BRISBANE'S contract with coach Chris Fagan runs until the end of 2027 and the Lions are keen to see him go on beyond then as the club eyes an historic premiership three-peat.

Lions chairman Andrew Wellington, in a wide-ranging interview with AFL.com.au, said he would be keen to see the 65-year-old coach past the end of next year.

"I would like to see Chris go on as long as he's got the passion and the energy to go on. That's really going to be the question. Yes, Chris has a contract, but to be honest I think we're fortunate to have a coach like Chris and a relationship that we have with Chris where the contract's the formal part of it," Wellington said.

"But in reality, it's an ongoing conversation with Chris at any point in time about how he's feeling about coaching, and certainly the results at the moment support the view that he's still got the energy and the passion to do it. So as long as that's the case, Chris will go on."

Fagan's last deal was signed in December, 2024, which came months after he later revealed he came close to stepping away from the Lions after a tough start to the year and a personal health scare.

The Lions' recent form spike has put them right back into premiership contention and Wellington said the end of the season was the right time to discuss Fagan's future heading into his contract year.

"We'll have the conversation when he's ready to have the conversation. It's hard, though, I think, when you're getting towards the end of a season and for Chris to actually have the time to sit back and think properly about how does he feel about continuing on," he said.

"Logically, those conversations typically happen after the dust has settled post-season."

Maintaining the hunger for players and coaches is part of the Lions' art, but the thought that Fagan could step away at the end of this year if the Lions saluted for a third straight flag has not been discussed.

"That hasn't been raised at all," Wellington said. "In football, anything's always a possibility but put it this way – it's not something I'm sitting here expecting."

Brisbane has deliberately shunned any chance of a succession plan for its next coach, with football boss Danny Daly and highly rated assistant Cameron Bruce considered possible future coaches. Fagan is into his 10th season as Lions' coach and is on track for his eighth straight finals series.

"We're happy to develop all of our people and at a time when we need to look for a coach, hopefully we've got some people internally who are capable, but I'm sure we'd also look outside as well," Wellington said.

Brisbane's build from the bottom of the ladder, the future at Victoria Park, the Olympics preparations, Lachie Neale, Zac Bailey, St Kilda and plans to upgrade their new facility were all on the agenda in an exclusive interview with Wellington.  

FROM VICTIMS TO WINNERS

THE TRANSFORMATION of Brisbane from struggling club to powerhouse has been a decade-long build. And now the Lions are having to work through the next challenge of their success: capitalising on it. 

Wellington took over in 2017 and is one of the AFL's longest serving presidents, and along with former CEO Greg Swann, ex-football boss David Noble, current football boss Danny Daly, recruiting manager Steve Conole, list manager Dom Ambrogio and coach Chris Fagan, has been one of the architects of the rise off the bottom to be the competition's envy.

"Right at the beginning it was probably a case of stemming the bleeding and just trying to stabilise things a bit. Greg and I used to talk quite a bit about a victim mentality that had crept in," Wellington said.

"There'd been the 'go-home five' (players who left in 2012). There was a feeling – probably justified – that people didn't understand the challenges that existed in trying to be a successful club in a non-traditional football state. It was a mindset shift to being accountable and responsible for our own destiny."

The destiny has proved brilliant. After a run of finals appearances between 2019-2022, the Lions lost the Grand Final to Collingwood in 2023 before back-to-back premiership wins in 2024-25. After looking out of the running in the middle of this season, they have struck back with five straight wins and are again a flag favourite heading into September.

The task now is for Brisbane to make the most of its golden run.

"That's a challenge for us because we're getting to the point where we're capped out. A significant percentage of our games at the Gabba are now sell-outs. We're growing our membership but it's difficult to grow in those circumstances where most games are sold out," he said.

"You're trying to find that balance between not selling every seat to members because you want to be able to attract new people to the game and grow the game, but you also don't want to disadvantage people who've been loyal supporters of the club through the good and the bad times.

"That's actually a bit of a challenge for us at the moment to balance that, particularly knowing that in 2033, all being well, we'll be moving into a 63,000-seat stadium (at Victoria Park). We're developing some strategies around that to try and ensure we can do that successfully; one of those is as some full-season members don't renew memberships, we'll split those memberships into multi-game memberships so there's more people we can have engagement with."

LIONS 'SYMPATHISE' WITH SAINTS

BRISBANE having some "sympathy" for St Kilda is not a headline you would have expected given the tirade of barbs between the clubs in recent years.

Saints president Andrew Bassat has led the charge against northern Academy rules and this year the AFL put in strict new rules tightening access to Academy players. That followed coaches Chris Fagan and Ross Lyon firing off comments after Fagan said the Saints' spend on big-money deals was "a danger" to the game.

Wellington said the history of tenant clubs at Marvel Stadium should capture more focus in the competitive balance discussion – only two home clubs in the Docklands venue's history have won premierships (Essendon in 2000 and the Western Bulldogs in 2016).

"I've got a personal view that if you look at what's happened in Victoria where some clubs have struggled to turn things around, I find it interesting there's not more focus on what seems to be an apparent divide developing between MCG clubs and Marvel clubs," he said.

"If you want to sort of talk about clubs turning themselves around and the context of Academies… in the last 12 years, there's actually been nine premierships won by Victorian clubs.

"One of those is from a Marvel tenant. If you look at the last 12 years, if you're an MCG tenant, I think the probability of playing finals is about 50 per cent. If you're a Marvel tenant, I think it's less than 30 per cent.

"I think you've probably got to look at… are there structural disadvantages that certain clubs have? If it's Marvel versus MCG, I have some sympathy for Andrew Bassat's argument that, subject to the economics, they should get some more MCG games.

"The evidence seems to say it is hard for clubs to turn themselves around and we found that ourselves, so I have some sympathy for that. I just disagree with people who argue that Academies are a prime cause of that."

The suggestion the Lions' success was underpinned by their priority access to talent is Wellington's biggest frustration.

He reels off data about how Queenslanders were in the Lions' Grand Final team last year against how many Victorians were in Geelong's line-up, as well as the Victorians in Collingwood's side in the preliminary final.

"Some people might put our success down to some sort of advantage to Academies. But I think most people appreciate that it's more than that. The frustration for me comes from a couple of things," he said.

"One is the notion that Academies are someone stealing talent from other clubs as opposed to creating a larger talent pool. I feel that's misunderstood.

"The other frustration I get is Academies, NGAs and father-son all get lumped in the same basket. Each of them have very different objectives and different drivers.

"The Academies have also played a tremendous role in growing female participation in football."

'FOOTBALL'S A BUSINESS'

HOW WOULD the Lions chairman feel about seeing Lachie Neale in a Collingwood jumper next year?

The Pies are considered favourites to land the two-time Brownlow Medallist, who has been perhaps Brisbane's best-ever recruit from another club in a glittering career. He has also spoken to St Kilda, Essendon, West Coast and Fremantle.

"I understand football's a business these days. I've been in a position on list management where you have to make calls about ending players' careers so it's hard for me to begrudge players trying to get the most out of their career as long as they properly consider the option to stay, and Lachie's circumstances are well documented," Wellington said.

"We understand that his situation right now is probably more complicated than most so he's got a range of factors he needs to consider. We couldn't be more grateful for what he's done for our football club. He's certainly earned the right to sit back and see what's going to work best for him in what's left of his career.

"We'd love it if he'd continue to play football at the Lions, but given his circumstances I'd also understands if he chose to see out his career somewhere else."

The Lions are much more hopeful of retaining fellow free agent Zac Bailey amid Adelaide's seven-year, $10 million bid for him. As AFL.com.au revealed this month, the club lifted its offer from six to seven years to get closer to matching the financial gap, though Bailey would still be leaving significant money on the table to stay a Lion.

"I'm optimistic (on Bailey staying)," Wellington said. "I've learned in list management you're only confident once you see a contract signed, but I'm optimistic. We'll see where that lands."

SECOND OVAL COMING TO SPRINGFIELD

BRISBANE plans to build a second oval at its Brighton Homes Arena facility within the next two years.

"That's our biggest investment priority at the moment. We need that extra space to be able to continue to do what we want to as a football club, but to continue to do what we want as a part of the community as well," he said.

"Ideally, I think we'd have the (second) oval up and running within the next couple of years. Then there'll be some other sort of development and infrastructure around that."

It is a big few years for venues in Queensland, with development underway for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games home at Victoria Park. Once the Games are finished, the Lions will move their home matches from the Gabba to the brand new ground that will be in the epicentre of Brisbane.

Brisbane is involved in the building process of its new home so that it carries all the requirements for top-level AFL games.

"The governing body has been really good and they've had us at the table for quite a while now," Wellington said. "Sam Graham, our CEO, and some of our team have been involved in quite a few meetings and had input into the designs and been able to provide feedback and it appears that feedback is being listened to, so that's really positive." 

AFL.com.au revealed earlier this year that the likely introduction of cricket for the 2032 Olympics would make the Gabba unavailable for a large block of the season, with the AFL already starting to work through fixture contingencies for Brisbane and Gold Coast.

That could see both clubs have to be away from their homes for long stretches, but Wellington said it was a small price to pay.

"We've got some alternative strategies we're starting to develop, but until we really know what it looks like, it's hard to be too definitive on those," he said.

"Whatever it's going to be, it's going to be inconvenient. But we're fortunate we're going to hopefully be moving into a fantastic new stadium. Putting up with some inconvenience for a year will be well and truly worth it."

'I'M NOT A GROUP STAGE PERSON'

THE AFL has narrowed its fixture plans for 2028 – once Tasmania enters the competition – to two options: a 24-game season where every team plays each other once and then there are six double-up games, including Gather Round and a Rivalry Round run by the AFL; and the Group Stage model where every team plays each other once and then the ladder is split into four groups to determine the finals order.

Wellington shared his view on the future of the fixture, plus his take that game length should be trimmed with the season set to grow.

"I'm not a group stage person. I think we overcomplicate it. I'm certainly not a mid-season tournament person. That works in a game like basketball where they play a lot more games and there's a lot less contact. I just think it'd be hard when you've got the broader season for that to really get traction," he said.

"I don't know exactly how much [game time should be cut]. I don't think it needs to be a lot shorter, but even just two or three minutes would make a reasonable difference across a season in terms of player welfare and not destroying our players."