By Wayne Heming

Journalist, rugby league commentator, player, coach, mentor, husband, father, and grandfather, Michael Hagan, has done it all.

That’s why he was such an ideal subject for our latest FOGS Life After Origin series.

However, just a few minutes into our 40 minutes phone interview, Michael, asks: “can I call you back?”

A few minutes later, he calls back, apologising and explaining his wife was calling him.

“My wife gets a little window at lunchtime each day to say g’day,” he said. “Now we are good to go.

Those few minutes told me a lot about Michael Hagan, the man.

It explains why he is was so widely regarded as a great team man, as a player, and such a good communicator and mentor to so many players as a coach.

Hagan’s rugby league journey got off to a slow start.

In his early years, he played back-up to halves, Steve Mortimer and Terry Lamb, two of the Bulldogs’ best.

But it didn’t deter him, he used the opportunity to observe and learn from the two great champions.

Ultimately his patience and perseverance earned him two premierships at the Dogs in 1985 and 1988 as well as an Origin call-up in 1989.

“Being behind those two great players helped my career. To be able to train alongside them and then play alongside them and the other great players at the Bulldogs, I learned as much as I possibly could from all of them.

“Warren Ryan [Our coach] was always clear about what he wanted from his players and it was a great education before I moved to Newcastle in 1989.”

Hagan says both his Bulldog’s premierships came through injuries suffered by the club’s gun halves.

“I was fortunate in 1985 when Terry Lamb was hurt and I got the call-up again in for the 1988 grand final after Steve Mortimer broke his arm.

“I guess you could say that my greatest skill as a player, was being in the right place at the right time.”

As he said, he had a habit of being in the right place at the right time, just like he was in 1989 when Queensland’s champion little halfback Allan Langer was carried off midway through the first half of game two in Sydney.

Hagan takes up the story.

“Coming on to replace Alf was an absolute shock to the system because I wasn’t expecting to get more than 10 or 15 minutes,” said Hagan, who had played a cameo in his Origin debut in the opening game 36-6 shellacking of the Blues at Lang Park.

“I remember there was a fair amount of carnage in the game and it ended up being one of Queensland’s most monumental victories”.

The Maroons lost five stars during the battle – Allan Langer (broken ankle), Mal Meninga (fractured eye socket), Paul Vautin (shoulder), Michael Hancock (bruised shoulder), and finally Bob Lindner, who soldiered on until the final minutes after struggling on a broken leg.

It’s still considered Queensland’s bravest Origin win with captain Wally Lewis delighting in telling of how some of the NSW crowd stood and applauded the Maroon’s courage.

Hagan, FOG #61, underplayed his part in Queensland’s brave victory that night.

But without his contribution and those two crucial passes he threw for tries, it’s questionable if the Maroons get that very special win.

They may have been just another two passes in the thousands he threw during his decade-long career.

But they weren’t.

They were two passes that traveled less than a metre each, but which broke Blues’ supporter’s hearts.

Hagan’s inside ball to Queensland hooker Kerrod Walters for a 12-6 lead after halftime came off some good team play in which Hagan handled twice.

Then, with the game in the balance, his alertness to grab a loose ball and throw it to captain Wally Lewis for his amazing solo try clinched the series.

Replacement forward Trevor Gillmeister had cut a Blues forward in half and Hagan instinctively shoveled the loose ball onto a flat-footed and fatigued Wally Lewis.

Lewis saw some space, his champion instincts kicked in and he somehow made it to the try line.

“The lead-up to Kerrod’s try was a little more significant and creative than the one I hit Wally with,” recalled Hagan in a chat with FOGS.com.au recently.

“There was a fair bit of teamwork in the lead-up to Kerrod’s try but it was probably just as important in the end.”

Passing was always Hagan’s strong suit, along with creating breaks, while setting up tries was his specialty.

“Passing was always a strong part of my game,” said Hagan.

“That was my job to create opportunities, for players around me and assist them.”

Hagan, one of seven siblings and the youngest of four brothers, came from a footballing family.

His oldest brother, Bob, who played and coached the Bulldogs and represented Australia, was one of his mentors during his teen years.

It was Bob who called in a few favours to get him into the Bulldogs system in his teens.

“Fortunately Bob, was around during those crucial years between 12 and 17 to help and advise me,” he said.

“He was influential in getting me to the Bulldogs. I’d played Queensland schoolboys in 1981 and Bob recommended me to Bullfrog [the legendary Bulldogs boss Peter Moore] who did him a favour and agreed to take me on.

“Bullfrog met me at the airport when I first arrived in Sydney and looked after me in my early years.

“I spent two years living with [former Bulldogs coach Mal Clift] and his wife Launa, Canterbury had that reputation as a family club and they looked after young players.

“Back then we had a very talented footy team and we played a very tough, uncompromising style.

I got to play behind a wonderful pack of forwards, Peter Kelly, Dave Gillespie, Steve Folkes, and Paul Langmack, they were all at the peak of their powers,

“There were some pretty tough hombres I got to play behind.

“Back then Bob was always someone I could call for advice when I needed it.

“Unfortunately he’s not doing too good well at the moment. He is in an aged care facility on the Sunshine Coast, I saw him in December and he has dementia.”

Hagan recalled how as a young kid he would go and watch his older brother, Russell, play.

“Russell was about five years older than me and he was running around playing with a kid nicknamed “Fatty” [Paul Vautin].

“There I was, a young kid watching Fatty play from a young age against guys like Wally Lewis [Valleys] and Mal Meninga who was playing for the Police Academy, thinking they played alright.

“They ended up as two immortals and Fatty who played for Queensland and Australia, so I was really lucky to be watching and learning from some of Queensland’s champion players at a young age, to be honest.

“I knew Fatty pretty well because of his friendship with Russell and I got to know Wally Lewis because I was going out with the sister of the girl Wally was going out with at the time.

“Five or six years later I got to play alongside Wally.”

Part of Hagan’s deal with Canterbury was that he got a cadetship in journalism which he did, reaching a C-grade level before rugby league became his priority and focus.

He served his cadetship in journalism at the Bankstown Torch and thoroughly enjoyed it.

After he hung up the boots following 111 games for Newcastle, and 72 games for Canterbury, Hagan decided to dip his toe in the coaching waters with Newcastle, replacing Warren Ryan as coach in 2001.

Having learned from some of the best coaches in the game and given his growing reputation, he won the premiership in his rookie year, the first to do so since Phil Gould achieved the feat in his first year of coaching the Bulldogs in 1988.

Ironically, Hagan was called into Gould’s grand finals side in 1988 when Steve Mortimer was ruled out injured.

Many years ago, Hagan struck up a friendship with Queensland icon Mal Meninga when they were both playing for Super League clubs in the UK.

Their friendship and respect for each other have forged a successful combination for Queensland and Australia over the years and which continues with Hagan serving as Meninga’s assistant with the current Kangaroos..

 “Mal was at the peak of his powers with St Helens [1984-85] and I was playing for Halifax.

“Mal would make an effort to get all the Australian players together for Christmas Day

“He was always very good at building teams and relationships. He made sure all the Aussies looked after each other and we became good friends way back then.

“We’ve known each other a long time now I just find him to be a humble, decent, genuine fella. I like being around him because he understands the balance between fun and making sure the players are switched on.

“I’ve spent a lot of time with Mal as his assistant with Queensland and the Kangaroos, I think that role suits me a bit better.

“Over the years I’ve learned it is easier being the deputy than being the Sheriff.”

Hagan said wherever he played and coached it was important to always have an element of fun in the camp.

“When I played Origin, and Wally Lewis was captain and Arthur Beetson coach, it was always fun.

“Even today, Allan Langer is still around the Queensland team making sure the players have a lot of fun.

“I’m sure Billy Slater understands the intensity and the preparation and getting all the footy things right, but he also understands the value of having someone like Alfie around and enjoying each other’s company.

“When Wally drove the team minibus around in ‘89, the laughter never stopped.

“I don’t think you could have laughed any more than when we spent time together in that bus.

“We’d have the heaters going full blast in winter it was 25 degrees inside the bus.

“Wally would be driving and he’d be mounting the footpath outside of Lang  Park, missing light poles by centimetres and Kangaroo-hopping the bus trying to put big Sam Backo through the windscreen.

“But when it came time to play, Wally, Sam Backo, Mal Meninga, Bobby Lindner, Gary Belcher, and Gene Miles, they could throw the switch and play at another level.

“It was breathtaking if you hadn’t been around those players before.

“They had that uncanny ability to switch on the aggression and dominate for long periods.”

So, how would Hagan describe himself as a footy player?

Certainly not flash.

“I’d say I was a hardworking, team player with very little pace,” he laughed.

“I’ve told people this, so you can quote me: ‘I had deceptive pace when I played … I was slower than I looked’,”

“One thing though, I was pretty durable, I didn’t miss many games in my career, and I am proud of that.

“I’d probably like to be remembered as a player who always did his job for the team.”

Hagan continues to be involved in rugby league calling the Knights home games for Triple-M, which he has done for 15 years and in his role as Kangaroos assistant coach.

“I do some writing for Roar.com.au and I am also mentoring [North Queensland Cowboys coach] Todd Payten.

“I coached Toddy in reserve grade at the Canberra Raider and that is where the connection started.

“It’s more a phone call and a bit of support when things aren’t going well.

A few months short of his 60^th birthday, Hagan has no plans to drop the curtain on a sport that has been a part of his life for the past 40 years.

”I still love the game, it’s given me so much,” he said.