The Lions have won five of their past nine matches, including their past two outings against Gold Coast and Melbourne, and Martin said the wins have stemmed from the attitude of the coach.

 

“I think the most stark thing for me is that he’s always retained his composure with us,” Martin told Crocmedia’s Sportsday program.

 

“We had a few nasty losses earlier in the year, and not once did he ever lose us and try to point the finger at players.

 

“He might be angry in the box and I’m sure he is on the walk down to address us, but the second he does address us he is very composed and looking towards the future.”

 

Martin, who is arguably in the best form of his career, polled a maximum 10 AFLCA votes in the club’s win over Melbourne on Sunday.

 

He said the confidence Leppitsch had in his men was a real boost to the playing group.

 

“He made sure the players didn’t fall off the wagon because it can be easy to do that with the early losses we were having,” Martin said.

 

The 27-year-old said he had asked Leppitsch about how he maintained his composure in games.

 

“I was interested as to how he was so composed,” he said.

           

“I chatted to him about it a little while ago and it’s just the kind of guy he is, he’s very pragmatic and he’s very results based and he knows if he’s going to fly off the handle it isn’t really going to achieve much.

 

“That seems to be how he lives his life.

 

“The way he talks to us, he keeps our confidence high even if we’re losing and he goes through systematically to educate us in review.

 

“I think they’re really good traits to keep a young group together and on board.”