LEIGH Matthews has bad news for any club hoping to find the next Chris Fagan when it's searching for a new coach.

There isn't one.

Fagan will pass Matthews' record of 237 games coached at Brisbane on Saturday against Gold Coast, continuing one of the most remarkable stories in the AFL this century.

When Fagan was appointed to lead the Lions at the end of 2016, he was an untried 55-year-old who had never played in the VFL/AFL and was following in the failed footsteps of club legends Michael Voss and Justin Leppitsch.

And Brisbane was at rock bottom, a perennial cellar dweller that couldn't keep or attract players, and a club that was in a pile of debt exceeding $15 million.

Almost 10 years on, the Lions are a powerhouse, reigning back-to-back premiers, record membership, weekly sellouts at the Gabba and now a destination club.

Leigh Matthews, Chris Fagan and Lions leaders after the Grand Final between Sydney and Brisbane at the MCG, September 28, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

Matthews, who is a Brisbane icon after winning three of his four coaching premierships at the club from 2001-2003, has become firm friends with Fagan and could not be more glowing in his praise.

"He was always underestimated. Not now," Matthews said.

"Now he's like a benchmark for the people that don't have to have played (at the top level), didn't have to be great players.

"He started coaching at 55 and that's when most people are retiring in Australian footy.

"He's been a remarkable story. Everyone is now looking at people like him (to coach), but I think he's a one-off. I think he's very much a one-off."

Chris Fagan and players during round 11 between Greater Western Sydney and Brisbane at ENGIE Stadium, May 24, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos

Matthews says he deals with Fagan more as a person than a coach, and the latter rarely seeks advice when the pair and their wives catch up for weekly Wednesday night dinners.

However, the Lions board member has seen first-hand the impact Fagan had from the moment he walked into the club.

"We were a mess, down the bottom," Matthews said.

"Whenever you appoint a new coach you're taking a punt.

"Someone that's coached before, at least they've got some record of coaching, but you never know what they're going to be like at your club.

01:57

Veteran could be secret to Lions’ success, young forward in ‘rarefied air’

Matthew Lloyd dissects the key roles that young forward Logan Morris and veteran defender Dayne Zorko played in Brisbane’s crucial Round 22 victory over Hawthorn and the roles each of them could play throughout the 2026 finals series.

Published on Aug 10, 2026

"Appointing a coach tends to be a leap of faith. The club takes a big swallow and says: 'here we go'.

"One of the things about him that sticks in my mind is that in the first year, we'd been stuck down the bottom, but it seemed like at the end of the first year he'd made it a place without winning games that the players wanted to be involved with him.

"It's almost a miracle that a side still losing and stuck down the bottom the first year, the (good) environment had been created by him and other people … that was a miracle to do that.

"Usually, winning games is what makes clubs attractive for people to be at."

Matthews said Fagan was not only intelligent, but empathetic. He called him a great bonder of people - all values that ultimately made him a "fantastic recruiter".

Dayne Zorko, Cam Rayner and Chris Fagan after the Grand Final between Geelong and Brisbane at the MCG, September 27, 2025. Picture: Getty Images

He helped lure Luke Hodge out of retirement for two years of on-field education that fast-tracked the development of defenders Harris Andrews, Darcy Gardiner, Ryan Lester and everyone else on the Lions list.

He was the final voice that got Lachie Neale across from Fremantle, and also played huge roles in attracting Joe Daniher and Josh Dunkley.

Following five wins in 2017 and another five in 2018, Brisbane jumped into the finals for the first time in a decade in 2019 and hasn't missed since.

"What doesn't happen much in our game is where you're stuck down the bottom for a few years and all of a sudden you go top four," Matthews said.

Luke Hodge and Chris Fagan during round eight between Western Bulldogs and Brisbane at Etihad Stadium, May 12, 2018. Picture: Getty Images

"That year, '18 to '19, was remarkable. That's really unusual where a team has that big a leap in 12 months and they’ve remained up there for eight years.

"You're not going to get into a Grand Final or win premierships every year, but they've been around the premiership contention for eight years.

"That's a great effort of longevity of excellence."

The pair will forever be linked by not only their standing at the club and remarkably similar records (Fagan has one more win but one less premiership), but the iconic emotional embrace they shared following the 2024 win over Sydney.

Leigh Matthews and Chris Fagan after the 2024 Grand Final. Picture: Channel 7

Matthews didn't need to see the premiership to recognise Fagan’s greatness, but it solidified it for the rest of the football public.

"He's probably always been underestimated, I think. Until he finally won a premiership.

"There's a lot of really good coaches that have never won a premiership of course, but it's the final recognition of your coaching if you can be a premiership coach.

"I used to say to him ‘mate, you’ve been a premiership coach, or you were a premiership coach before you won the premiership'."

Whether Fagan wins a third premiership at the helm or not, he will go down in history as not only one of Brisbane's greatest leaders, but a "one-off" that can match it with any coach of the AFL era.