Recently retired Brisbane Lions star Josh Drummond had little trouble finding tenants after choosing to lease out his four-bedroom Queensland home following his appointment as North Melbourne’s Development Coach.

It just so happened that his former Club had recently welcomed four young recruits from interstate – Sam Mayes (SA), Marco Paparone (WA), Michael Close (VIC), and Nick Hayes (SA) – and were looking for an appropriate rental property (located conveniently near the Gabba) to house them.

The quartet had been temporarily staying with their Lions teammates, but needed to settle into a more permanent residence before the start of the season.

And so it was decided by the Club that they would live together – at Drummond’s house – rather than be billeted out to host families.

“We made that decision after getting feedback from host families over the past couple of years,” Head of Welfare, Leadership and Culture Manny Lynch said.

“The overwhelming desire is if they’re going to flounder, then they have to do it in a supportive environment.”

“If you didn’t have the right type of characters, it would probably be a bit more difficult. But these guys are all very well grounded and get along with each other. I think they have complementary skills and will maintain the house beautifully.”

Drummond, who has since relocated with his wife down to Melbourne, can also rest easy in the knowledge that his place will be well looked after.

“They’ll be supported – very much so,” Lynch said.

“The house is close to my home, I’ll have keys, and there are a lot of rules surrounding it. But there will also be times where they will have to just lean on each other, so it’s a really good opportunity for the four of them.”

Mayes, Paparone, Close and Hayes officially moved into their new ‘digs’ on Wednesday.

“Drummo’s house is not very far at all from training, so it should be good. It will be a good learning experience to cook and kind of fend for ourselves. We’re all kind of low-key sensible guys, so we’ll look after the place and respect it,” Mayes said.

“It’s right near Coorparoo, so we can just walk to training. It should be a good lifestyle and they’re all good blokes, so I don’t think living with them will be too hard,” Close said.

“I can’t wait. I think (Manny) will pop in to check up on us and help us out a bit,” Hayes said.

As for who will be responsible for which household chores, Paparone said they will “play it by ear”.

The Club’s other 2012 draftee, Jordon Bourke, is a local Queenslander and already lives close to the Gabba with his family. But I’m sure his fellow recruits can expect him to be a regular house guest in the ‘Lions’ Den’.

Sam Mayes (@sammayes7) shared the first photo of their new pad on Wednesday via Twitter: 

"Looking forward to moving into the new house today with @mclose7, @njhayes43 and the magician Marco Paparone," he tweeted along with the image below.