After the Brisbane Lions won the AFL Grand Final against the Fremantle Dockers on Saturday, celebrations at Melbourne's Pullman Hotel East Melbourne included coach Chris Fagan sitting atop co-captain Harris Andrews on the dance floor. Fagan, 65, expressed his contemplation about stepping down from coaching despite being contracted until 2027, citing the challenging nature of the job after a decade. His victory celebration continued late into Sunday morning as players like Josh Dunkley and Cam Rayner partied at rooftop bars around Melbourne.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-27,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
After winning their third consecutive AFL Grand Final title in 2026, the Brisbane Lions celebrated with a party at the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne, where coach Chris Fagan was hoisted onto the shoulders of co-captain Harris Andrews. The celebration also featured Fagan singing "We Are The Champions" on stage. Prior to the festivities, Fagan hinted at his uncertain future with the team despite being contracted until the end of 2027, saying he would think about it over the coming week after what had been a challenging decade-long tenure as coach.
Written for “Lions Coach Celebration” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
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Celebrations erupted at a Melbourne hotel on Saturday night, hours after the Brisbane Lions claimed a thrilling seven-point AFL Grand Final victory over the Fremantle Dockers.
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Lions → see → Dockers
Footage has emerged of Lions coach Chris Fagan sitting atop co-captain Harris Andrews on the dancefloor at the team's after party, held at the Pullman Hotel East Melbourne.
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Fagan → emerge → Hotel
Fagan, 65, who is 170cm tall, appeared to be delighted with the view from his 200cm defender's shoulders.
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who → appear → shoulders
He was seen grinning broadly as he threw his hands in the air, with multiple partygoers seen filming the joyous moment on their phones.
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partygoers → see → phones
It was a fitting celebration for Fagan, who coached the Queensland team to a 'three-peat' - winning the flag in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
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who → coach → 2024
The celebrations came after ‘Fages’ dropped a bombshell about his future, revealing he was considering stepping down despite being contracted to the Lions until the end of 2027.
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he → come → 2027
Speaking after the match, he told Channel 7 he was weighing up his future in what has been a 'tough job' for the past decade.
'
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what → speak → decade
I’m going to have a think about it this week,' he said.
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he → go → it
'Fages' is held aloft by co-captain Harris Andrews as the Lions' after-party
The veteran coach threw his arms in the air as he celebrated his 'three-peat' win
Lions players celebrated their thrilling victory over the Fremantle Dockers on Saturday
'
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players → hold → Saturday
I’ve been doing it for 10 years.
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I → do → years
It’s a hard job.
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It → ’ → ?
I’ll think about it.
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I → think → it
I’ll [give it] a few days just to clear my head and make a decision.
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I → give → decision
Separately, he said, 'I don't really want to be that guy who hangs around until we fail'.
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we → say → ?
'There's a little bit inside me that would rather walk away when the team's on top... a dream way to finish.
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team → be → top
'
But on Saturday night, the coach was clearly focused on celebrating his victory.
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coach → focus → victory
Fagan, who has been nicknamed Papa Fages by midfielder Lachie Neale, was the centre of Lions' revelry until at least midnight.
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who → nickname → midnight
As the clock ticked over to Sunday morning, several Lions players kicked on to The Osborne Rooftop & Bar, something of tradition for those who played in the previous two Grand Final wins.
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who → tick → wins
According to the Herald Sun, Josh Dunkley, Logan Morris and Kai Lohmann were drinking out of the premiership cup, while Cam Rayner did a shoey for an applauding crowd.
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Rayner → accord → crowd
The premiership coach remained all smiles as he greeted fans on Sunday morning
Midfielder Lachie Neale signed autographs for fans in Melbourne's Fitzroy
Many players hid their night of celebrations behind dark sunglasses
Fremantle's past players gathered to drown their sorrows, with the Dockers failing their second attempt at winning the club's first AFL premiership.
On Sunday morning, players hid the signs of their big night behind sunglasses as they made a poignant return to Brunswick Oval in Fitzroy North, their club's historic home.
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they → remain → North
The Fitzroy Lions merged with the Brisbane Bears and based operations out of Queensland in 1996, leaving the footy-mad inner city Melbourne suburb without a team.
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Lions → merge → team
The premiership players greeted their heartland fans, signing autographs and taking to the stage in ‘three-peat’ T-shirts.
'
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players → greet → shirts
It wasn't the prettiest of grand finals and for large parts of it we looked like we probably weren't going to win the game,' Fagan told the crowd.
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Fagan → look → crowd
'But this group's got amazing heart and amazing resilience but when they got 17 points up and played that wharfie thing, our boys fired up and were able to play the best five minutes you'll ever see in a grand final.
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you → get → final
'
Fagan was referring to 'Wharfie Time', a Dockers crowd-rallying celebration when a goal is scored late in tight matches, in which stadium lights dim, waves crashing through a storm appear on the big screen, and the tolling bells of AC/DC’s song Hells Bells can be heard.
Fagan trained his players to use it as their own motivational tool in the event of a close scoreline, in a move many have hailed as coaching genius.
On Saturday, when Wharfie Time was played late in the fourth quarter as the Dockers raced to a 17-point lead, the Lions responded with four majors in the final four minutes of the match.
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Lions → refer → match
Fagan left the Brunswick stage to cheers of '10 more years' from the crowd.
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Fagan → leave → crowd
The Aporia
