WHAT better way to celebrate winning the ‘Luke Hodge Cup’ than sharing a wine and watching a replay hours later alongside Hawthorn great Leigh Matthews?
That's exactly what Brisbane coach Chris Fagan did in the wake of his team's drought-breaking 56-point victory over the Hawks on Sunday night.
It was the club's first win since August last year and its first over Hawthorn since 2009.
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"I went around to (CEO) Greg Swann's place for a pizza and a glass of wine after the win and sat on the couch and watched the replay," Fagan told Melbourne radio station SEN on Monday morning.
"Leigh Matthews came around as well and we did a critique of his (television) commentary.
"It was good to sit back and watch it and take it all in."
The win snapped an eight-game losing streak to start the season that included losses of seven points or less to Port Adelaide, Gold Coast and Collingwood.
Fagan said the win was great for belief after the string of narrow defeats.
He said after getting their attacking game working strongly at the back end of 2017, there was an extra emphasis on defence and contested ball during the pre-season that took some adjusting to.
However, with scores of 114, 97 and 129 in the past three weeks, the Lions coach said they now had the balance right.
"I reckon in the first few weeks we were grappling with that (balance) - how you can get the two things to work together?” he said.
"Gradually over time I feel like we've got the balance right."
Much of the lead-up into the Hawthorn game centred around Hodge facing the club he played 305 games for, capturing four premierships.
Fagan said he didn't notice too much different from the veteran in the build-up, but conceded it was special to win.
"He's human. I think if all of us were coming up against our old side … particularly when you've spent such a long time there, there would be an element of nervousness,” Fagan said.
"I know I felt that last year the first time I coached against Hawthorn, it was a pretty weird experience."
