Lions mentor Chris Fagan has no doubts Brisbane’s head of football Danny Daly would succeed as an AFL senior coach

Lions premiership-winning mentor Chris Fagan has endorsed the coaching credentials of Brisbane's football manager Danny Daly, who has been linked with the vacant Melbourne job. Daly has recently been touted as Fagan’s eventual successor at Brisbane, having long been considered an AFL senior coach-in-waiting during an extensive career that has included previous roles Collingwood, North Melbourne and Richmond. However, the Lions might have a fight on their hands to hold on to Daly, with his name being touted as a potential permanent replaced for sacked Demons coach Simon Goodwin. “I know we wouldn’t like to lose him, that’s for sure, but if it was for something like that, I’d be chairing him out of the place and saying `good luck and go well’,” Fagan said on Friday. “He’s been a fantastic help to me from the day I arrived here at this football club, and we’re like brothers I reckon. “We talk a lot about football, and I know he’s got that capacity inside him to (be an AFL senior coach) if that’s what he wants to do. “That’s completely up to Danny, and others who make those sorts of decisions.” Daly replaced David Noble as Brisbane’s head of football in November 2020 having previously been the Lions’ strategy coach. Noble left Brisbane to become North Melbourne’s senior coach, a position he held until July 2022 when he was sacked by the Kangaroos after 38 games at the helm.