This time last year, the Brisbane Lions were on the nose.
Five talented youngsters, widely thought to be the future of the Lions, walked out the door and it was a terrible look for the club.
Elliot Yeo, Patrick Karnezis, Sam Docherty, Jared Polec and Billy Longer all had their reasons for wanting to return to their home states and when examined on an individual basis, there were compelling reasons for each to depart the club.
Multiply that by five, however, and the Lions were painted as a club with a poor development program, where youngsters were drafted from all over Australia were pretty much left to fend for themselves.
Fast forward a year, and the environment at the Gabba could not be better. Two of the biggest names of the NAB AFL Trade Period, Dayne Beams and Allen Christensen, are Brisbane-bound. And the man to thank for the transformation of the Lions is coach Justin Leppitsch.
Beams becomes a Lion
Peter Schwab joined the Lions shortly after last year's mass exodus, initially as list manager before moving on to manage all matters to do with the list and talent acquisition. And while Greg Swann's appointment as chief executive in July brought some much-needed gravitas to the Lions (it was he who declared the Lions were open for business with a large hole in the salary cap), Leppitsch has changed the culture.
"Clearly the coach had to take a lot of the credit for creating the environment and the way he's managed it. It has been exceptional," Schwab said in an interview last week shortly after the Beams deal was consummated.
"He came here with a clear direction about not just the game-plan but the way the football area of the club should operate.
"He has shown he can coach from a tactical and directional perspective, but he also has a good manner and a good way of managing people.”
Lions land Christensen
Schwab believes the Lions copped a bad rap from the defections at the end of 2013. To lose five in one hit was almost the perfect storm, and in his view reflected unfairly on a number of proven football people who have work for the Lions.
"The perception out there was that the club was doing a lot wrong, but people like Dean Warren (general manager of football), Brett Burton (high performance manager) and Manny Lynch (head of welfare and culture) are great people who have been doing a good job for a long time now."
There was plenty of introspection at the Lions in the wash-up of last year's departures.
"You don't want that happening every year," Schwab admitted, "so we have worked hard to create an environment that people coming in here will enjoy."
Bringing in Beams and Christensen, two Queensland Academy selections and a father-son pick leaves the Lions out of next month's NAB AFL Draft until pick 67.
Their midfield would now appear sorted, with Beams, Christensen, Daniel Rich (returning from an ACL injury), Tom Rockliff, Dayne Zorko, Josh Green and Jack Redden forming a group as deep and talented as any in the competition.
The question now is, who will play deep forward to capitalise on all this run and carry?
"You can't fix all the perceived problems with your structure in one off-season," Schwab said.
"We hope Michael Close and Jonathan Freeman will get opportunities and that Brent Staker and Luke McGuane come back and are fit. We know we need to find some options."
If the Lions midfield in 2015 turns out to be as good as advertised, the club should have no troubles attracting decent key position players this time next year.
Twitter: @afl_hashbrowne
If the Lions midfield in 2015 turns out to be as good as advertised, the club should have no troubles attracting decent key position players this time next year.
Twitter: @afl_hashbrowne
