LIONS player welfare boss Craig Lambert says keeping young talent at the Gabba will come down to empathy and care.
Lambert and wife Mel have returned to Brisbane to oversee player welfare after five years with GWS.
The ultimate goal is to duplicate Brisbane’s premiership era, when players took pay cuts to stay together.
“The bottom line is all about building strong relationships with these guys and hopefully they never want to leave,’’ Lambert told The Courier-Mail.
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
“We’ll essentially do what we’ve been doing for the past 15-20 years which is living the values of empathy and care.”
Lambert said players and their parents were “good at seeing through people who talk the talk but don’t walk the walk”.
“Our job is to show the players and parents how much we genuinely want them to develop into good men and good footballers. That’s our passion,” he said.
“Every club wants to be a family club but you have to treat these young boys like your own. Our home has essentially been a halfway house for 20 years.
“I always say to the players, if you meet us halfway with your values and your application to our football club, there is nothing the Lamberts won’t do for you.
“You can ring at 4am with a flat tyre and trust me, I’ll come get you.’’
Brisbane held an induction for new and second-year players and families last weekend.
Hosted by the Lethal Lions and co-ordinated by the Lamberts, the three-day program showcased the city and the club.
It included Friday night drinks at the penthouse of long-time benefactor and former No.1 ticket holder John Pearce, a Saturday barbecue at the Manly mansion of board member Mick Power and Sunday brunch at Southbank’s Plough Inn, owned by long-time member David Argus.
Players and families were addressed by senior Lions executives and coaching staff.
“We’ve always said you don’t draft a player, you draft a family. Especially at an interstate club because you are taking these boys away from their homes,” Lambert said.
“You only get one chance to make a good first impression and the weekend was exceptional.’’
The Lamberts are proud of their record of keeping a vast majority of the Giants’ highly touted draft picks together despite raids from interstate clubs.
Lambert is bullish about doing the same in Brisbane, where he played from 1994-2000 and was assistant coach from 2001 to 2005.
“It is a special group here. It is quite resilient,’’ he said.
“We want to build something that is sustainable so that in three to five years guys like Josh Schache, Ben Keays, Harris Andrews Dan McStay and Sam Mayes are happy to play for what they are worth, or maybe a little less, because they see how bright the future is at Brisbane.’’
