Brisbane Lions Coach Condemns Leak of Confidential Player List
Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has expressed strong disapproval over the leak of a confidential list that targeted Essendon players, following the revelation that one Bombers star was sledged over his girlfriend. The incident occurred ahead of the Lions’ 64-point victory over Essendon on Saturday, when private information from the club was shared online.
Photos showing the strengths and weaknesses of Essendon’s players were posted in a Bomber supporter group on Facebook. Among the details listed was Jaxon Prior’s only strength as ‘Bronte’, referring to his partner, Bronte Thompson. Former Essendon captain Zach Merrett was labeled as ‘selfish’, while defender Ben McKay was noted for having ‘low confidence’.
The public sharing of this information sparked backlash from footy fans online. One fan wrote: ‘Toxic, sexist and paints a pretty decent picture of the men who play for Brisbane.’ Another commented: ‘Listing Jaxon Prior’s only strength as his Partner, probably speaks of the toxic masculinity that runs through that club.’ A third added: ‘Jeez that’s ordinary … bringing partners and families into that setting is a really slippery slope and a big no no, it should never have been written down.’
However, some supporters believed the sledge was an in-joke, given that Prior played for the Lions until the end of the 2024 season. They claimed the 24-year-old saw the funny side of being ribbed about ‘punching above his weight’ when he started dating her.
After their victory at Marvel Stadium, the Lions reached out to Prior. Fagan said: ‘I spoke to Jaxon out on the field after the game, as did a lot of our players, and had a bit of a laugh and a joke together.’ He emphasized that the comment was not meant to be harmful, stating: ‘There was nothing bad intended at all with that comment, not at all, zero.’
Lions star Josh Dunkley also reached out to Prior after fulltime. Dunkley said: ‘He’s all good, which is nice. We love “Priz” and he’s been at our footy club for a long period of time so it’s good to see him going well for the Bombers.’
Fagan vented his frustration over the leak at his post-match press conference. He stated: ‘Somebody illegally took photos of information that was on a whiteboard and then decided to make a hero of themselves and put it out in the public domain.’ He highlighted that the practice of listing opposition players’ strengths and weaknesses on a whiteboard had been ongoing for nine years.
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Fagan admitted the incident made him reconsider allowing external people to access the club’s facilities. He mentioned learning the exercise from former Wallabies mentor Eddie Jones. ‘We go out of our way to bring the community into our football club and use our facilities,’ Fagan said. However, he expressed disappointment at the breach, noting it made him feel like keeping the facility exclusive.
The usually reserved Brisbane star defender Harris Andrews was also furious about the incident. Essendon coach Brad Scott remained unfazed, stating it was an issue for the Lions to handle. ‘Brisbane have done that (listing strengths and weaknesses) for years, so that’s nothing new,’ Scott said. ‘I wouldn’t want that coming out of our building.’
