{"id":913769,"date":"2026-10-02T18:50:20","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T18:50:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/913769\/"},"modified":"2026-10-02T18:50:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T18:50:20","slug":"afl-will-ashcroft-confident-of-ongoing-success-for-brisbane-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/913769\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL: Will Ashcroft confident of ongoing success for Brisbane"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lions star Will Ashcroft says the departures of coach Chris Fagan and two-time Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale from Brisbane will create \u201copportunity\u201d for others in the club\u2019s quest for a fourth successive AFL premiership.<\/p>\n

Having starred in Brisbane\u2019s grand final win over Fremantle last Saturday, Ashcroft capped off a memorable week on Thursday night when he was awarded the Merrett-Murray Medal as the Lions\u2019 player of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a pretty amazing feeling,\u201d the 22-year-old midfielder said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA fair few superstars of the game across the journey have won this award. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s pretty humbling, it\u2019s a pretty cool moment to win this award. The value people place on the best and fairest in a premiership year is pretty high, so it\u2019s a great honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s team success Ashcroft craves more than anything else, and he\u2019s confident the Lions can build on their hat-trick of flags despite the exits from the club of master mentor Fagan and star onballer Neale, who is joining Collingwood.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a similar thing, Lachie going, \u2018Fages\u2019 going \u2013 it\u2019s another opportunity for someone to come in,\u201d Ashcroft said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to replace Lachie Neale, you\u2019re going to bring the next person through. You don\u2019t need them to be anyone they\u2019re not. They\u2019ve just got to play the way you want to play and play well for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashcroft admitted he would have more \u201cresponsibility\u201d with Neale going but said it would mean the likes of his brother Levi, Jaspa Fletcher, and Daniel Annable potentially getting more time in the midfield rather than be used in other positions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019ll necessarily mean taking over his (Neale\u2019s) role in the midfield, it\u2019s more how can we all support each and help each other be the best midfield in the comp. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re striving for. That\u2019s what I want to do at the end of the day \u2013 be a part of winning flags. My drive and dedication will not waver.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashcroft said it was \u201cpretty sad to see\u201d Fagan depart but an \u201cexciting chapter\u201d loomed for Brisbane.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so grateful and happy that \u2018Fages\u2019 was my coach for the first four years of my career, but he deserves to walk into the sunset and do what he pleases now \u2013 he\u2019s earned that right,\u201d he said of the triple-premiership winning mentor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so happy for him but also excited for what\u2019s to come with the next person to step up into that role \u2026 whether that\u2019s someone internally or a fresh face externally to bring some new ideas to the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ashcroft endorsed Lions football manager Danny Daly and assistant coach Cam Bruce as potential replacements for Fagan.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Bruce) is such a good people person. He has genuine care for all his players, and his football mind is second to none, and it\u2019s the same with Danny,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very similar in a lot of ways, but they each bring their unique points to coaching \u2026 but the club might want to go in a different direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club\u2019s made so many great decisions over the journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as Brisbane star Will Ashcroft backs Lions\u2019 bid for more flags despite Chris Fagan and Lachie Neale exits<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lions star Will Ashcroft says the departures of coach Chris Fagan and two-time Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":913770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[403214,481284,417680,481280,476129,481277,437035,481258,481252,481270,481264,419203,376730,481283,378194,481256,481262,481272,481250,481254,638,481268,481255,481251,414604,28956,481288,64,63,55,639,158400,651,3237,278347,481267,76251,3244,481289,320258,13284,10990,3429,70571,197038,379391,393651,481263,91360,10992,481261,481271,481276,19101,152634,25875,393684,4127,481285,481273,481282,481292,481269,376710,311482,439999,481274,349884,43961,35062,39917,481286,15624,481257,413580,94,3206,481293,481287,85,481291,416090,387771,481253,381352,481290,382205,457394,379738,395321,215379,417117,481260,74713,392357,380835,7709,480060,408186,481266,380038,383263,315971,476714,481275,214758,378969,481279,481278,481259,9357,481281,93597,110890,481265],"class_list":["post-913769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-belief","tag-s-grand-final-win","tag-s-quest","tag-s-team-success-ashcroft","tag-fages","tag-a-champion-coach","tag-a-different-direction","tag-a-fair-few-superstars","tag-a-fourth-straight-flag","tag-a-fourth-successive-afl-premiership","tag-a-fresh-face","tag-a-great-honour","tag-a-lot","tag-a-memorable-week","tag-a-part","tag-a-premiership-year","tag-a-pretty-amazing-feeling","tag-a-pretty-cool-moment","tag-a-similar-thing","tag-a-two-time-brownlow-medallist","tag-afl","tag-all-his-players","tag-an-exciting-chapter","tag-another-opportunity","tag-anything-else","tag-ashcroft","tag-assistant-coach-cam-bruce","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-bid","tag-brisbane","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-brisbane-qld","tag-brisbane-star-will-ashcroft","tag-bruce","tag-chris-fagan","tag-chris-fagan-and-lachie-neale-exits","tag-coach-chris-fagan","tag-coaching","tag-collingwood","tag-daniel-annable","tag-danny","tag-departures","tag-each-other","tag-fagan","tag-fagan-depart","tag-flags","tag-fremantle","tag-genuine-care","tag-his-brother-levi","tag-his-football-mind","tag-jaspa-fletcher","tag-key-exits","tag-lachie-neale","tag-last-saturday","tag-lions","tag-lions-football-manager-danny-daly","tag-lions-star-will-ashcroft","tag-master-mentor-fagan-and-star-onballer-neale","tag-more-responsibility","tag-more-flags","tag-more-time","tag-my-career","tag-my-coach","tag-my-drive-and-dedication","tag-neale","tag-newswire-sport","tag-night","tag-opportunity","tag-other-positions","tag-player","tag-potential-replacements","tag-premierships","tag-qld","tag-role","tag-so-many-great-decisions","tag-some-new-ideas","tag-sports","tag-such-a-good-people-person","tag-that-right","tag-that-role","tag-the-22-year-old-midfielder","tag-the-best","tag-the-best-midfield","tag-the-club","tag-the-comp","tag-the-day","tag-the-departures","tag-the-end","tag-the-exits","tag-the-first-four-years","tag-the-game","tag-the-journey","tag-the-likes","tag-the-lions","tag-the-merrett-murray-medal","tag-the-midfield","tag-the-next-person","tag-the-same","tag-the-sunset","tag-the-team","tag-the-triple-premiership-winning-mentor","tag-the-value-people","tag-the-way","tag-the-year","tag-their-hat-trick","tag-their-unique-points","tag-this-award","tag-thursday","tag-two-time-brownlow-medallist-lachie-neale","tag-ways","tag-will-ashcroft","tag-winning-flags"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}