Chris Fagan

When he first started, he was, like, so hard on the players.

I used to go to meetings and I'd sit there and think, don't look at me, don't say anything to me, because I thought he was going to give me a burst of time.

But he was such a fierce competitor.

And, you know, in his first year as coach, he sort of took the club from down near the bottom to making a preliminary final, which was quite astonishing at the time.

But it was almost like he was coaching...

through fear, making people fearful.

But over time, he really mellowed.

I think he worked out after his second year when the team didn't go so well and hardly won a game.

I remember him asking me, how do you reckon I'm going, Faves?

I said, mate, I reckon if you keep going the way you're going and just...

having a crack at everybody all the time you're probably going to be out of a job by the end of the year I was a little bit worried about saying that to him to be truthful but he took that on board and in his third year he sort of really started to embrace the idea of leadership group and talking to the players and getting their involvement and that's when David Meats became captain and

And he mellowed somewhat.

He still had the hard edge, but he was smart enough.

And this is the thing about Neil, he's a very, very smart man, very, very intelligent.

And he was able to adapt his coaching methods to how young men were sort of a bit different to what he was.

And I think over time, that's why they love him so much now, because they saw, they witnessed that change in him.

He wrapped his arms around them more often.

They knew clearly that he loved them and they loved him back.

So it's no wonder that that connection has stayed the journey with his MMD situation.

A lot of those boys have been hugely supportive in the different campaigns that he's had over the years, whether it be the big threes or the Danaher drive.