The Blues beat out multiple clubs in the race to secure Fagan as director of coaching<\/a> in a major coup and huge addition to their footy department.<\/p>\nWHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n
Hard to recall when there\u2019s been a more valuable footy department free agent on the market than Fagan, coming off a third-straight Lions premiership.<\/p>\n
After all, the 65-year old stepped away from the Brisbane for personal reasons while he was at the peak of his powers.<\/p>\n
And with the greatest respect to one of the greatest coaches of the modern era, Fagan\u2019s greatest super power is his man management skills and ability to create a culture where players thrive as a grandfather figure. Not necessarily coaching X\u2019s and O\u2019s.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s what makes Fagan an ideal sounding board and mentor to Fraser and the rest of Carlton\u2019s coaching staff. There\u2019s arguably no better set up. <\/p>\n
History suggests hiring an untried coach \u2014 not turning to an experienced head that\u2019s been successful in the past \u2014 is the most proven method. Yet still surrounding that first-time coach with ample experience and proven winners. <\/p>\n
Carlton has landed Chris Fagan.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
Fagan ticks both those boxes and then some. Don\u2019t forget he was Alastair Clarkson\u2019s right-hand man during Hawthorn\u2019s golden era last decade. <\/p>\n
Therefore, Fagan has been part of seven of the last 19 premierships including an additional two grand finals. Yes, Fagan has been involved in nearly half the last 19 grand finals. He knows what it takes to win at the highest level and the habits required to get there.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s been a few false dawns since Carlton\u2019s last grand final appearance in 1999, having not claimed premiership success since 1995. <\/p>\n
Sadly, this century can only be remembered for a coaching carousel with brief glimmers of hope. Coaching greats Dennis Pagan and Mick Malthouse couldn\u2019t save the Blues.<\/p>\n
The Chris Judd era delivered a finals run but nothing meaningful. <\/p>\n
It felt like Michael Voss\u2019 Blues were the real deal and bound for glory before things quickly came undone. <\/p>\n
But for all the ups and downs on field and inability to truly course correct and make Carlton a genuine bona fide once again, they\u2019re making all the right moves off field.<\/p>\n
To be the best again, you\u2019ve got to beat the best. Or, get them.<\/p>\n
The Blues lured Brian Cook away from Geelong in 2021 to be their chief executive before he handed the role over to Graham Wright, who they poached from arch rival Collingwood. <\/p>\n
Wright is widely regarded as one of the best football administrators in the business, having also been in Hawthorn\u2019s brain\u2019s trust during that golden age with Fagan and Clarkson and setting up Collingwood\u2019s 2023 premiership under Craig McRae. <\/p>\n
With Wright pulling the strings in the background, Blues fans should be optimistic. Just look at his two big off-field moves since taking over the role.<\/p>\n
Swans champion Dane Rampe retires | 03:11<\/p>\n
Fagan is Wright\u2019s second major off-field hire over the last year after the club landed footy boss Chris Davies from Port Adelaide. Again, Davies is highly regarded as one of the best in the business. <\/p>\n
Wright joined Carlton to be a CEO. But for Davies and Fagan to pick the Blues when they would\u2019ve had interest from multiple clubs shows the power of Wright and what the club is building.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason there wasn\u2019t a pressing need for Carlton to fill its list boss vacancies with the highly experienced Davies and Wright in the chair. <\/p>\n
Though finding that next head of list management looms as Carlton\u2019s next big off-field move after it parted ways with Nick Austin and Mick Agresta earlier this year.<\/p>\n
Turning over basically a quarter of the list this off-season tells you where they thought the list was it, notwithstanding that super, fairytale run to finals under Fraser that uncovered some gems. <\/p>\n
Maybe the list wasn\u2019t that bad?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a list that\u2019s well placed after a reset last year when the club sold high on Charlie Curnow to free up salary cap space and bring in a plethora of draft picks. <\/p>\n
They largely preserved that draft hand this off-season, despite the additions of Lachie Whitfield and Joel Amartey, while father-son prodigy Cody Walker is set to follow next month and add to a promising young crop featuring Jagga Smith and Harry Dean.<\/p>\n
So, now you have a promising young coach, who\u2019s already showed serious chops, surrounded by Chris Fagan, Chris Davies and Graham Wright… it mightn\u2019t get much better than that. <\/p>\n
We know how crucial it is to get the off-field right and the importance of clubs\u2019 key leadership pillars.<\/p>\n
It crucially comes in a time where there\u2019s rightful questions of Carlton off-field following misdemeanours to Will Hayward and Wade Derksen.<\/p>\n
Which is plain horrible timing for Fraser when he\u2019s trying to build his own culture and set elite standards to become the new benchmark. <\/p>\n
Again, they have the right people in the people to address whatever needs to be addressed.<\/p>\n
And while there\u2019s been plenty of talk that Carlton\u2019s trade moves signal it should be going for it in 2027, they\u2019re simply reproducing the blueprint of all successful clubs in recent years; addressing the now and the future. Clubs can\u2019t afford to sit still anymore with some fanciful five-year plan when teams like Hawthorn and Geelong are getting better every year.<\/p>\n
Carlton will also try and do just that while hoping a young nucleus sets them on a path for sustained success. They have the best council behind them.<\/p>\n
Blues fans should rest assured that, while there\u2019s no guarantees of success, the club is pulling all the right levers to deliver it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Carlton coach Josh Fraser will have the infinite wisdom of Chris Fagan by his side in 2027. Could…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":947198,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-947197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947197","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=947197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/947198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=947197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=947197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=947197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}