{"id":465239,"date":"2026-02-07T22:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T22:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/465239\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T22:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T22:54:14","slug":"brisbane-coach-chris-fagan-cops-roasting-after-comments-on-st-kildas-spending-spree-hed-be-feeling-sick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/465239\/","title":{"rendered":"Brisbane coach Chris Fagan cops roasting after comments on St Kilda\u2019s spending spree: \u2018He\u2019d be feeling sick\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brisbane\u2019s<\/a> much-loved premiership coach Chris Fagan has sparked an accidental AFL<\/a> war by passing comment on rival club St Kilda\u2019s<\/a> off-season spending spree during last year\u2019s trade period.<\/p>\n

In what would normally be a sedate interview on the AFL\u2019s website, Fagan made the surprise decision to discuss the Saints\u2019 trade activity, which saw them bring in Carlton stars Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni, while re-signing their own superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera on big money.<\/p>\n

Wanganeen-Milera signed a whopping $4 million contract<\/a> while De Koning inked a deal reportedly worth $1.7 million a year<\/a> for eight seasons.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping those numbers we saw last year, via St Kilda, don\u2019t become a reality. I saw that as a bit of a danger for the game,\u201d Fagan said on the AFL\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the best players in the competition deserve to be paid the most money and that\u2019s not the case at the moment. That\u2019s not an insult to Nasiah. I think he\u2019s going to be a really good player and how far he goes I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd TDK (De Koning) has shown a lot of promise for a long time but hasn\u2019t probably played up to expectations, and they\u2019re getting paid extremely well. I\u2019d rather see the better players get all the big money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChrisChris Fagan has sparked an accidental war by talking about St Kilda players and their contracts. Credit: Getty<\/p>\n

Talking down the talents of De Koning and Wanganeen-Milera certainly created a stir by the usually unassuming Fagan, who is the AFL\u2019s version of \u2018Simon the Likeable\u2019.<\/p>\n

And from St Kilda\u2019s perspective, it all seems a bit rich from a coach who has just taken his team to three grand finals in a row, won back-to-back flags, and has a team stacked with young stars that they have managed to acquire through the AFL\u2019s controversial father-son rule or their academy.<\/p>\n

St Kilda is a 150-year-old club and has just one AFL\/VFL premiership to its name. The Brisbane Lions have five premierships to their name this century and are on track for No.6 and an extraordinary second three-peat of the 2000s.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Triple M\u2019s Mick in the Morning, St Kilda legend and star Channel 7 commentator Nick Riewoldt said Fagan \u201cwas a very beautiful man\u201d but would no doubt like his time back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon he\u2019d be feeling sick,\u201d Riewoldt said.<\/p>\n

Riewoldt pointed to Brisbane\u2019s father-son guns (which includes dual Norm Smith Medal winner Will Ashcroft) and access to their academy players and said: \u201cMaybe if other clubs were able to do these sort of things, you wouldn\u2019t have to overpay players to bring them into your club. I thought it was a pretty off-the-mark comment.\u201d<\/p>\n

After winning the premiership last year, Brisbane still managed to acquire pick No.6 in the draft (Daniel Annable) who came out of the club\u2019s academy.<\/p>\n

They also brought in West Coast captain Oscar Allen and star Essendon tall Sam Draper.<\/p>\n

In the season before (after winning that year\u2019s flag), they secured No.5 draft pick Levi Ashcroft (Will\u2019s brother) who was a father-son selection and is now a premiership player, too.<\/p>\n

Front Bar host and Triple M funnyman Mick Molloy called out the hypocrisy and suggested Fagan was \u201csooking\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe sooked up. He\u2019s playing, \u2018what about us? It\u2019s not fair!\u2019 \u2026 like it\u2019s an unlevel working place,\u201d Molloy said.<\/p>\n

Riewoldt said \u201cit sounded that way\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cChris Fagan is a beauty (but) I reckon he\u2019d be feeling sick today. I\u2019d be shocked if he didn\u2019t reach out and apologise,\u201d Riewoldt said.<\/p>\n

Molloy said it was an unusual \u201ccrack\u201d at a club that has been starved of success for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust so we\u2019re clear, St Kilda hasn\u2019t won a premiership since 1966,\u201d Molloy said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Brisbane) have just won a flag and they\u2019re poaching players from everywhere. If you happened to see the draft, the cheers kept coming from the Brisbane Lions table as the reigning premiers managed to gobble up about half a dozen players \u2026 Jeez.\u201d<\/p>\n

Titus O\u2019Reily said Fagan\u2019s comments were laughable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey had pick six (in the draft) after winning two grand finals in a row,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And Riewoldt agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey brought in Daniel Annable as a top pick through the Lions academy. (Oscar Allen) walked in under free agency … Sam Draper came in. They\u2019ve been able to walk in the Ashcroft boys over the last few years, as well as Jaspa Fletcher (the son of former Brisbane player Adrian), who might be the best of the lot,\u201d Riewoldt said.<\/p>\n

Molloy: \u201cI\u2019d like him to walk back his comments and apologise profusely to the struggling Melbourne clubs who get handed nothing while those showboats up there in Queensland (get everything).<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should have seen the draft! It was split evenly between Gold Coast and Brisbane \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cGold Coast! Brisbane! Gold Coast! Brisbane! It just kept coming,\u201d he said (mimicking the draft picks).<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you get out of that to have a whinge. Unbelievable, Chris Fagan. I\u2019m very disappointed in you,\u201d Molloy said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

But St Kilda CEO Carl Dilena wasn\u2019t laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is, the danger arises from a system that distorts access to talent, not in amounts paid to players, which must sit in a cap,\u201d Dilena told the AFL website.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe market system dictates behaviour and prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically northern clubs have paid the biggest contracts in the history of the game, but now benefit from talent access concessions which have flipped the script.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Lions star makes call on captaincy amid Lachie Neale fallout<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

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Adelaide coach shares update on \u2018unique\u2019 young gun<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

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