Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan opens up on fallout from team’s Las Vegas trip after leaked photos ‘ruined a player’s relationship’

Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has dismissed rumors of “disharmony” among his playing group, who will adopt a siege mentality as they attempt to find form after three consecutive defeats to start the season.

The poor start has been further compounded by reports of a rift in the playing group due to incidents that took place on an end-of-season trip to the US last year and suggestions that have impacted the form of the last year’s grand finalists.

Players and club officials have insisted the team’s bond is stronger than ever, with Fagan on Wednesday backing his ability to judge “social interactions” and his good rapport with players to make a sound judgment about any failings.

“They’ve been a happy bunch all pre-season, that’s all I can say,” Fagan said ahead of his team’s clash with strugglers North Melbourne in Friday’s Gather Round clash at Norwood Oval that could help them start their season.

‘I think I’m a good judge of how interactions (and) social relationships with team members are going.

Brisbane Lions’ trip to Sin City has come under intense scrutiny

“That’s probably one of my strong points, so I haven’t seen any evidence of disharmony, which was what was suggested.”

Fagan made no apologies for last season’s defeated grand finalists using “outside noise” as motivation to turn their season around.

“All clubs do that all the time when you’re under pressure, so we won’t be any different to that,” he said.

“At the end of the day, all we have is each other, so we will work hard to try to get back to being the best version of ourselves this weekend.”

‘I always believe in moving towards obstacles, not away from them. Don’t dodge anything, accept full responsibility for how things are going, including myself, and move on.

‘That’s the best way to live life because not everything turns out perfect. This group has been on top for a long time.

“The last time we lost three games in a row (during the regular season) was in 2018. That’s a long time. We’ve been a very consistent group and we’ve hit a little bump in the road right now, but you gotta have some fun trying to get through it and know and have confidence that we will eventually make it. .’

But Fagan says the unfortunate trip is not the reason for his poor start to the season.

Fagan defended the form of forward Eric Hipwood, who had a poor game in Brisbane’s 20-point home loss to Collingwood last Thursday.

“He was definitely below his best the other night,” the Lions coach said.

‘He kicked three against Fremantle, which was decent. He was reasonable against Carlton and had a very good pre-season, so he had a bad game.

“It was a bad game, but it was a bad game.”

Lions co-captain Lachie Neale trained in Springfield on Wednesday and is expected to play against the Kangaroos despite injuring his ankle in the loss to the Magpies.

Fagan promised the Lions would not underestimate the Kangaroos, who also began their season with three straight losses.

“We can’t take it for granted that we’re going to get a win just because we’re in North Melbourne,” he said.

“We need to play a lot better than we’ve been playing.”