Lions pick assistant Bruce to replace Fagan as coach

Cameron Bruce will succeed three-time AFL premiership coach Chris Fagan at Brisbane, with the club expected to confirm the appointment on Tuesday.

The long-time assistant coach won the coveted role ahead of Adam Simpson, Nathan Buckley and Hayden Skipworth.

Bruce, 47, has been an assistant under Fagan for the past five years. A 234-game AFL player, mainly at Melbourne, Bruce was an assistant at Hawthorn and Carlton before going to the Lions.

He has been involved in six premierships comprising two three-peats – first under Alastair Clarkson at the Hawks, then under Fagan at Brisbane.

Bruce is expected to take on his first senior AFL coaching role with a three-year deal.

He beat a strong field to win the job. Simpson coached West Coast to the 2018 premiership over Buckley’s Collingwood. Skipworth, a senior assistant at the Magpies, also has strong credentials.

But Bruce was always the favourite and – significantly – he received strong endorsement from Fagan.

Soon after Brisbane’s last-gasp grand final win over Fremantle in September, Fagan confirmed speculation he would resign from the Lions. He has since taken on a director of coaching role at Carlton.

Bruce played 224 games for the Demons from 2000-10, captaining them in 2008 and winning their best-and-fairest award in the same season.

He played 10 more games at Hawthorn before his 2012 retirement.

Bruce immediately transitioned into a development coaching role. By the end of the season, he was a senior assistant as the Hawks won the first of their three-straight flags.

Aside from helping oversee the first of the two premiership hat-tricks he’s been involved with, Bruce forged connections at Hawthorn which have had a major influence on his coaching career. He worked with Fagan there and Brendon Bolton.

In 2017, Bruce went to Carlton to work under Bolton as an assistant and in 2021, he was reunited with Fagan at the Lions.