Retiring Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan has reportedly contacted Fremantle’s Jordan Clark to apologise for remarks about Clark’s All-Australian selection during the Lions’ best-and-fairest night, according to PerthNow and AFL.com.au’s Cal Twomey.
PerthNow’s Jake Santa Maria reported on Saturday (3 October, 2:34pm) that Fagan reached out after a farewell speech in which he compared Lions defender Darcy Wilmot favourably with Clark. Clark has not made any public comment on the speech, PerthNow said. Neither Brisbane nor Fremantle has issued a club statement confirming the contact in the reports cited below.
What Fagan said at the awards night
According to PerthNow, Fagan paused while addressing Wilmot and said: “Motty, I’m not an All-Australian selector, but it’s about time they picked you in the All-Australian team, I reckon, mate.” He added: “If that Jordan Clark from Fremantle can get picked, I reckon you can, anyway.”
PerthNow noted Clark earned his second All-Australian blazer this season after a maiden call-up in 2025. The same outlet reported the remarks went down poorly with Fremantle supporters, coming as Fagan prepared to leave after three straight premierships — a departure TSB covered when the Lions confirmed he was stepping down.
Reported apology
PerthNow attributed the apology report to AFL.com.au journalist Cal Twomey, quoting Twomey’s X post word for word: “Retiring Brisbane premiership coach Chris Fagan is understood to have reached out to Fremantle’s Jordan Clark to apologise and clear up his comments about Clark’s All-Australian selection.”
Fox Sports later summarised the same line on Saturday, saying AFL Media’s Cal Twomey reported Fagan contacted Clark “to apologise and clear up his comments”. Fox Sports framed the contact as reported, not as a formal club confirmation.
At the time of writing, neither the Brisbane Lions nor Fremantle had publicly confirmed the report, and Clark had not commented publicly.
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