NEW BRISBANE Lions coach Justin Leppitsch's first job will be to convince a raft of the club's homesick youngsters that Brisbane is the right place for them.
Leppitsch's appointment as the Lions' senior coach came after the board ratified the coaching panel's recommendation late on Tuesday.
Talented youngsters Billy Longer, Elliot Yeo, Sam Docherty, Jared Polec and Patrick Karnezis have all indicated they want to return to their home states after a brief time in the maroon and gold.
Leppitsch understands it is vital this sort of situation does not threaten to destablise the club in the future.
"I'm going to do my very best to keep the kids and rectify the issues that they might have," Leppitsch said at AFL House on Wednesday.
"It's important for the club that we're not in this position again, that we put parameters in place that our players want to stay and want to sign for longer term deals.
"One thing I know about the Brisbane landscape is that you need to keep your talent and grow that talent and that's the plan in going forward."
The Lions' board has recently gone through a period of unrest, but Leppitsch believes the club has a clear direction.
"I'm very comfortable that the club is going forward," he said.
"One thing I know, we are building and are going to build a really good organisation."
However, Lions president Angus Johnston refused to answer any questions about his own future or the structure of the board.
Leppitsch has a close relationship with disgruntled Richmond star Dustin Martin, whom he worked with during his time as a Tigers assistant coach.
Martin is open to exploring other offers, but Leppitsch would not be drawn on whether the Lions would be targeting the talented Tiger.
Leppitsch had breakfast with Jonathan Brown before the press conference on Wednesday and he said he would soon meet with both Brown and champion midfielder Simon Black soon to determine their football futures.
On the field, Leppitsch wants his team to have a level of "competitiveness on all occasions", but he also wants his time at the Lions to be fun.
"If you don't actually have fun along the journey, you actually won't perform," he said.
"My goal is to actually create an enjoyable working environment that expects hard work.
"If I can get that from my players, I know on Saturday that they're going to give everything they've got. And I know throughout the week they're going to come to work, motivated to listen and learn."
