Life’s all about change, and Youi’s the insurer for all the changes – big and small – that happen to you. That’s why the Brisbane Lions and Youi have teamed-up for the ‘Moments of Change’ series, where each week they’ll look back at some of the defining moments that have shaped the club you know today.

The Cambridge Dictionary offers a three-part definition of the word “rebuild”. It is (a) to build something again that has been damaged or destroyed, (b) if you rebuild a system or organisation, you develop it so that it works effectively, and (c) to try to return to the good situation that you were in before an unpleasant event happened to you.

When Chris Fagan walked into the Gabba to take over as coach of the Brisbane Lions in October 2016 he was confronted by a desperate need for all three.

It was a club that had endured a 14-52 win/loss record from 2014-16, which could have been much worse but for eight wins by less than 10 points. They’d finished 15^th-15^th-17^th on the 18-team AFL ladder and rebuild was the only way forward.

But it wasn’t as simple as going back to the AFL draft and picking the best young talent available. Because still fresh in the club’s mind was the nightmare of the ‘go-home five’ – the five high draft picks who had quit the club only three years earlier.

Jared Polec and Patrick Karnezis had been the Lions’ first two picks in the 2010 draft at #5 and #25. And Billy Longer, Sam Docherty and Elliot Yeo had been the first three picks in the 2011 draft at #8, #12 and #30.

Yet after two years and a combined 86 games in Lions colors they were gone. Stung by the pull of home, all five made their way back to their home states.

The three drafts in between the exit of the go-home five and the arrival of Fagan had delivered five players still at the club - Darcy Gardiner and Dan McStay (2013), Harris Andrews (2014), Eric Hipwood and Rhys Mathieson (2015).

But of the current playing list, Daniel Rich, an eight-year veteran of 143 games at the time of Fagan’s arrival, and Dayne Zorko, a five-year 101-gamer, were only other parts of the ‘welcome mat’ for the incoming coach, whose arrival coincided with that of 100-game delisted free agent Mitch Robinson, who had been sacked by Carlton.

And so began ‘Operation Re-Build’.

It is an ongoing process now six years on, but the 2016 AFL Draft, held at Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, was a very significant ‘Moment of Change’ in Lions history. A line in the sand moment when the club effectively said ‘no more – we’re going forward’. And did.

It was a two-part assault on the player talent pool, targeting youngsters new to the AFL system and highly-rated proven talent or need-specific players from opposition clubs.

This week the ‘Moments of Change’ series looks back at the key draft moments of the Fagan era, and next week it will recount the top-level players lured to Brisbane from other clubs and how they arrived at the Gabba.

To combat the go-home factor in 2016 the Lions targeted Victorian Country players, who theoretically would not be affected by the same lure. It wasn’t like they had an AFL club around the corner from the family home. And they targeted a pair of long-time close friends in a two-for-one deal, hoping that they would help each other through the sometimes tough early stages of an interstate move.

It had already been an off-season of significant change at the Lions, with 10 players moving on. Most significantly among AFL regulars, 200-gamer Daniel Merrett had retired, Justin Clarke had been forced into early retirement due to repeat head knocks, Pearce Hanley had been traded to the Gold Coast, and Josh Green was delisted.

It was a draft in which there were three clear standouts – Andrew McGrath, Tim Taranto and Hugh McCluggage. Essendon had pick #1, GWS #2 and Brisbane #3. And the Lions had privately identified McCluggage as their top priority.

So, originally armed with picks #2-31-51-60 in the draft, the club took a calculated gamble in the hope of turning one top-end pick into two top-end picks. They traded #2-31-51-60 to GWS for #3-16.

“Like anything, there was always a degree of uncertainty about what might happen,” explained Lions National Recruiting Manager Steve Conole, who had joined the Lions ahead of the 2011 season after various roles in a decade with AFL Victoria, working first as understudy to Graeme Hadley in Victoria before stepping up into the national role.

“We didn’t know for sure whether Essendon would take McGrath or McClugagge, but we were reasonably confident GWS had locked in on Taranto. So we took a bit of a punt and happily it worked out.”

The second part of the Lions grand plan was to get Berry at pick #16, which subsequently became #17. But he had been tipped to go to West Coast at #14 in the highly-rated Phantom Draft of AFL website draft guru Cal Twomey so there were plenty of anxious moments.

“No doubt we rolled the dice a bit,” admitted Conole, who was one relieved man when West Coast overlooked Berry to take Daniel Venables, who subsequently played in the 2018 premiership in his 15th game before a severe concussion in Round 9 2019 ended his career.

It was a draft sting celebrated that night when McCluggage and Berry, who both at the draft with their families, joined Fagan, CEO Greg Swann, Conole and list manager Peter Schwab for dinner.

“We’d made a conscious decision to try to build with a strong club-first culture, and we figured two like-minded kids who fitted that mould were a good option. And it goes without saying we couldn’t be happier the way it has worked out,” said Conole.

McCluggage, originally from Warrnambool, and Berry, from Horsham, had played together with the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup and Clarendon College in Ballarat on scholarship. They were roommates at school until they got their own room in year 12. And they were best mates albeit having taken contrasting paths to the draft.

Berry, captain of the Rebels and the Vic Country Under-18 side in 2016, had been a bottom-age standout in the then TAC Cup, when he was touted as a possible #1 pick. But a series of soft tissue and collision injuries in his top-age year saw him slide.

McCluggage went the more traditional route, climbing up the pecking order with a brilliant top-age year in which he averaged 25 possessions and two goals a game – a level that only Patrick Dangerfield had previously achieved.

“We did a lot of investigation work with their club, school and the general community, and it was unanimous that they were both young men of great character.

“After the draft they went home for a couple of days before heading to Brisbane until Christmas, and then moved back full-time. They moved in with Harris Andrews, who was sensational in showing them the ropes and what was required. That’s been something that we’ve carried on each year, and a lot of players have bought into it.”

The other big bonus in Fagan’s first draft as coach came via pick #37 in the rookie draft, when the Lions landed Oscar McInerney. Originally from Montrose, he was the 91^st first-time draftee that year after he’d spent most of the 2016 season playing in the VFL Reserves with Casey.

“He broke into the senior side in the (VFL) finals but we’d always been a bit keen on him. He’d improved out of sight, and again he was a person of outstanding character. He had a great work ethic and a real drive to improve and make his teammates better,” said Conole.

Twelve months later the Lions replicated their draft success of 2016 when they targeted four different parts of the country to snare the classy trio of Cam Rayner (#1), Zac Bailey (#15) and Brandon Starcevich (#18) early and Queenslander Jack Payne (#54) later.

Rayner, an explosive midfielder from Essendon Grammar and the Western Jets who had been likened to Richmond superstar Dustin Martin ahead of the draft, was preferred to Andrew Brayshaw, who went #2 to Fremantle, #3 Paddy Dow (Carlton), #4 Luke Davies-Uniacke (North Melbourne) and #5 Adam Cerra (Fremantle).

“It wasn’t clean cut (on which player the club would take) but the more we watched him (Rayner) the more we thought it was a good fit. We liked his personality and we thought he was the right sort of person for us. And we wanted to back ourselves to provide a good environment for him.”

If there was any doubt, Rayner wiped it away with a starring role in Vic Metro’s win of South Australia, when he kicked four goals and turned the game on its head.

Said the AFL Draft Central scouting report: “An unbelievable talent who is as strong in the air as he is at ground level and can break a game open like very few can”.

Despite reports to the contrary, Conole said Rayner had not committed long-term to the club before the draft, but in a welcome show of faith he extended the standard two-year contract by a further two years in January 2018 as the emerging Lions list started to take shape.

Bailey, a Darwin product who did his last two years of school at Prince Alfred College in Adelaide while playing with SANFL club Norwood, had had an extraordinary 2017 season. He played with four different teams across SA and NT, plus the Allies, and at one stage travelled 10 weeks in 12.

“We identified him pretty early in the year. We were looking for speed and he was a bit different to what we already had.  The longer the year went the more we were convinced he was the sort of player we were looking for,” Conole said.

Starcevich, a nephew of Lions AFLW coach Craig Starcevich from the Mt.Lawley-Inglewood JFC in Perth, was more of a slow burn. Hit by early season injury problems, he was initially left out of the WA State Under-18 team but forced his way in on sheer weight of persistence.

“He got better and better. His hands were clean, he was ultra competitive and he was a quietly determined young man. I remember of a school game Trinity College against Hale where he did a couple of things late that showed his passion for his team and his teammates, and then he rubber-stamped it playing with East Perth in the finals.”

Payne, a Noosa product and graduate of St.Andrew’s Anglican College at Perigian Springs, was a Lions Academy member from 13. He represented Australia at the Oceanic Games as a discus thrower, but at 17 had chosen to pursue football and had represented the Allies at the national Under 18 carnival. And was rewarded when drafted by the club without an opposition bid on him.

Twelve months later, two tough years into the Fagan era, the Lions took picks #21-36-40-42-55  to the #2018 draft after a busy trade period and returned with Ely Smith, Tom Berry, Tom Joyce, Academy product Connor McFadyen and Noah Answerth.

While Joyce is gone, Smith and an injury-plagued McFadyen are yet to play at AFL level, and Berry has had minimal opportunities, the last pick of the quintet has been a star.

The Lions had liked Answerth in his bottom age year of 2016 with Caulfield Grammar and the Eastern Charges, which was where Conole had most recently worked before joining the Lions. But in the first game of his top-age year Answerth broke his back in a bad collision with Jaidyn Stephenson, now at North Melbourne. He missed the entire year and was overlooked in the 2017 draft.

But he captained the Chargers as an over-age player in 2018 and represented Vic Metro to get himself back into the picture. “He’d shown real resilience just to get back playing, and after he worked on a few things he was very good in the second half of the year. I vividly remember one VFL game playing for Footscray against Port Melbourne he did some special things. He was a super young lad so late in the draft we thought he was worth a punt,” said Conole.

In the same year the Lions picked up Irishman James Madden and former Australian Under-17 basketball captain and Brisbane Bullets player Tom Fullarton as category ‘B’ rookies to add further to the list.

In 2019, when the draft was split over two days, the Lions again made a strategic trade after watching as 21 players were taken in the first round on day one. They had pick #23. But with Deven Robertson, WA Under-18 captain and winner of Larke Medal as the best & fairest player at the Australian Under-18 championships, still available they weren’t taking any chances.

So, looking to move up just spot in the order, they traded pick #23 and a future second-round pick to Port Adelaide for pick #22 and a future fourth-round pick. And immediately took Robertson with the opening pick of day two.

As the day unfolded the Lions were delighted to get through to pick #37 before a bid came from Essendon on Lions Academy player Keidean Coleman, who had gone undrafted as an 18-year-old in 2018. They couldn’t match the bid quickly enough before later taking Jaxon Prior from West Perth at #57 to round out the draft.

In 2020 it was a repeat process when Collingwood bid on Blake Coleman at #24, forcing the Lions to use their first live pick to secure the younger brother of the budding star. Running machine Harry Sharp followed at #43, and Henry Smith at #48. Sunshine Coaster Carter Michael and Irishman Deividas Uosis joined the club as Category B rookies.

And in 2021 the Lions had what Conole rates “a nice little rebuild on the run” when they picked up Victorians Darcy Wilmot (#16) and Kai Lohmann (#20), and West Australian James Tunstill (41).

So, in a pointer to the cut-throat nature of the AFL business, in six years since Fagan’s arrival the Lions have for various reasons moved on 53 players - 10-10-10-7-11-5 on a year-by-year basis from 2016-2021.

It will continue this year as Conole, List Manager Dom Ambrogio and their recruiting team look to find the next bunch of AFL superstars.

Thanks to our friends at Youi for helping bring this series to life.