North Melbourne champion David King and AFL 360 host Mark Robinson have verbally sparred over the Fox Footy analyst’s comments on Brisbane coach Chris Fagan.
King complained Robinson was “putting words in his mouth” when broader discussions of Fagan’s coaching took place on the show earlier in the week.
But Robinson questioned why King wasn’t more positive about Fagan following the Lions’ historic comeback from 44 points down to beat the Giants last Saturday night.
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The Lions head into their preliminary final against Geelong in the knowledge they’ve generally struggled against Chris Scott’s side in recent years, particularly in their two preliminary final meetings in 2020 and 2022.
King warned on Wednesday night the Lions must go in with a firm plan to stop Jeremy Cameron, a way to limit the impact of Tom Stewart and tactics to win stoppages.
“The reality is, there’s going to be issues in this game. You’ve got to put the fire out,” King said on AFL 360.
“They got away with one last week. If (Jesse) Hogan kicks one more goal, I guarantee the back page of the paper is how do you let Hogan do this?
“That’s footy, that’s our opinion outside looking in, he’s got a different version Chris and we understand that. But you deliver or you don’t and there are reasons … don’t get beaten by Cameron, what are you doing with Stewart and what happens at stoppages are the three keys for me.”
In response Robinson questioned King, saying: “So if Chris Fagan does really good in those facets?
King replied: “They win!”
Robinson continued: “Would you say that’s an unbelievable coaching performance by Fagan if it plays out that way?
King: “It’s performance. We do this every week – you make out like I’ve got a vendetta against Chris Fagan.
Robinson: “I feel like you have.”
King: “But you said things the other night I’ve never said about Chris Fagan!”
The pair’s debate continued with King crediting GWS coach Adam Kingsley for the way the Giants controlled the semi-final before letting it slip in the final term.
“You can coach brilliantly and lose, and you can coach poorly and win,” King said.
SEE THE REST OF THE DEBATE IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE
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