David Noble. Credit:Slattery Media The process has moved quickly since Noble's Adelaide lost to Sydney on Saturday night and Fagan is expected to present by Monday at the latest, and potentially this week, now that Hawthorn's campaign is complete. If Noble was McLachlan's captain's pick, then Fagan has come strongly recommended by the AFL's football boss Mark Evans. The pair worked together at Melbourne and were part of a powerful unit behind the ascension of Alastair Clarkson at Hawthorn. If there is a sense of unease regarding the AFL's move to plunder two successful clubs then neither Adelaide nor Hawthorn are saying so publicly despite the disruption to their already hectic post-season work. Clarkson would be severely disappointed, but would wish his right-hand man well. While Adelaide have questioned why Noble would quit the Crows for a similar position, it is believed he has been virtually assured of the chief executive's role in coming years.

Club poaching occurs during finals every season so it makes sense that the AFL in working to rebuild a badly broken club would be the best at it — combining knowledge and power to promise an alluring career pathway with its chequebook. And the Lions, having extended Justin Leppitsch's contract at the start of the year when its was warned against risking a six-figure payout, can hardly protest at the outside "help". In truth, the AFL should have stepped in with more force a year ago. Fagan has harboured an ambition to coach since his last coaching role under Neale Daniher at Melbourne. That seed may have flourished after he was approached to present by Carlton last year and is believed to have been sounded out by Daniher on Essendon's behalf. He chose not to apply for either. The AFL's view is that Brisbane need men of experience, but has earmarked Barker as the best and most experienced of the younger candidates. The job is Fagan's to lose with Barker's candidature further complicated by his planned trip overseas next week for his brother's wedding, although he is expected to present.

Although Fagan is not technically a coach and the club chiefs rejected a finals anti-tampering ban pushed by Clarkson and the coaches' association earlier this year, the Lions obeyed protocol and notified Hawthorn chief Stuart Fox before interviewing him informally before Hawthorn's semi-final. Clarkson was also aware his long-time lieutenant was meeting the Lions and is now faced with the near certain prospect of losing another key staffer a year after senior assistant Brendon Bolton moved to the senior job at Carlton during the Hawks' 2015 finals campaign. The four-time premiership coach must tire of seeing crucial aspects of his game plan on whiteboards in AFL club dressing rooms across the country. On Saturday at Sydney's Spotless Stadium two former Clarkson assistants, Leon Cameron and Luke Beveridge, will coach against each other in a preliminary final and last year Clarkson's grand final opponent was another, Adam Simpson. But the potential loss of Fagan will prove more damaging to Hawthorn than the regular exodus of talented assistant coaches. For all Clarkson's brilliance and achievements he has remained high-maintenance over his 12 years in the job and handling him has not been an easy job at times. Fagan, as director of coaching under Mark Evans until 2013, and later Fagan as general manager of football combined with CEO Fox, recruiting boss Graham Wright and fitness and high-performance bosses Andrew Russell and David Rath remain one of the most envied units in the game surrounding Clarkson, who has committed to recharging the Hawks with another three-year contract.

Interestingly Noble and Fagan are both Tasmanians who began their football careers in Hobart and their paths have often been parallel. Fagan coached the Tassie Mariners in the mid-1990s while Noble oversaw the NSW-ACT Rams and while the latter coached the Western Bulldogs reserves towards the end of that decade Fagan coached the Melbourne reserves. Brisbane's football problems should at the very last begin to now resolve but the next step is to put in place a board capable of overseeing a more independent and healthy club. Loading Because despite the fanfare of the virtual takeover at the end of 2014 Bob Sharpless and Leigh Matthews and Mick Power and their fellow directors have not managed to correct the downward spiral. And Matthews and Power might rightly blame outside forces but neither have they followed through on assurances given to their supporters during the end-of-year coup of 2013.