New Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch has experienced first-hand exactly how far Pearce Hanley has come as an AFL footballer over the past four years.

Leppitsch was an Assistant Coach at the Lions when Hanley first arrived at the Club from Ballaghaderreen in County Mayo as a talented teenager at the end of 2007, and spent two years helping him learn the basics of a completely foreign code.

During that time, Hanley managed only a handful of senior games as his body struggled to come to terms with the ongoing demands of professional AFL football.

Fast forward to today and Leppitsch, who returned to the Club at the end of 2013 following a four-year stint in Melbourne, still can’t believe the dramatic change in the Irishman – both on and off the field.

“I did coach (Hanley) for two years before I left and joined the Tigers and it’s a completely different story now,” Leppitsch told SEN radio in Melbourne.

“The first two years he was an Irish boy who’d come down here for a party. He was tearing hamstrings every three weeks and wasn’t quite leading the professional life.

“But since I’ve come back he’s a different boy, that’s for sure.

“He’s extremely professional and one of our best trainers. If he was playing in Melbourne, you’d be singing his praises a little bit more.

“He’s got an unbelievable turn of speed and ability to break the lines.”

Hanley is now widely regarded as one of the competition’s most exciting players, and is being spoken about in the same breath as former greats Jim Stynes and Tadhg Kennelly when discussing Ireland’s greatest AFL exports.