JUSTIN Leppitsch and Dan McStay go way back. 

In what must feel like another life, it was the champion Brisbane defender who provided a then 19-year-old McStay with his first opportunity in the AFL back in 2014.

The pair spent three seasons together when Leppitsch was senior coach at the Lions, with McStay's first 41 games coming under the three-time premiership backman. 

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Now Leppitsch – fresh from time inside the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – is coaching McStay again, this time at Collingwood after the 27-year-old ended months of speculation by completing a marquee move to the AIA Centre as a free agent in October. 

McStay is only a few weeks into his new life in black and white, and while a Victorian summer is proving to be vastly different to a Queensland one, the stress he carried across 2022 has disappeared.

"It's been amazing so far. Collingwood is building a really good culture and they've been really welcoming. Reconnecting with 'Leppa' after having him as my senior coach in the early days has been awesome," McStay told AFL.com.au in his first interview since arriving at Collingwood. 

"He is coaching the forwards, so it's great to spend time with him again. I can get a bit serious at times – he loves cracking jokes and making it light at training – it's hard enough if you build it up too much, but he is really good at just bringing me back down to earth, which is good."

Speculation regarding McStay's future started in the first few rounds of the 2022 season, gradually gathering momentum as the campaign progressed. It meant McStay's weekly performance was dissected through the lens of what the Victorian was worth as a free agent.

McStay shut the scrutiny out – he stayed off Facebook and only followed NBA-related content on Twitter – absorbing the noise, thinking long and hard about making the move from a settled spot at the Gabba to a powerhouse club on a big contract, before confirming the worst kept secret in football this year.

But despite deciding to leave the Lions after 161 games across nine seasons, including eight finals in the rebirth under Chris Fagan, it was the Brisbane coach who was one of many inside the club who supported McStay throughout the process. 

"It's always going to come (pressure and speculation), and I knew that if I was going to come to a big club, you just put it in the back of your mind and focus on what you can control, focus on the people that mean the most to you," McStay said. 

"I had a lot of great support up in Brisbane, from the playing staff to the coaches. Fages was just amazing for me. It definitely wasn't an easy decision to move away from those guys. But I'm really happy with the decision I made."

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While football is central to McStay's life, the key forward also had to factor in his partner and what was best for her life, given the role she has inside top-tier law firm Allens. It turns out it wasn't just McStay who moved south. Kellie moved from the Brisbane to Melbourne office. 

"It was a big decision. It wasn't just my decision, it was my partner's decision as well. I'm for grateful for her to make the sacrifices she has to move away from her immediate family," he said.

"It's been really good, she has settled into her work and I've settled into mine. Now we're just looking forward to reaping the rewards of Melbourne and enjoying this lifestyle."

The couple have opened their doors to new draftee Jakob Ryan, the Glenelg defender with the flowing mullet. McStay remembers what it was like moving interstate as a teenager and how difficult it was to move around so often in his early years. It means the South Australian will be with them for as long as he needs. 

McStay wasn't the only player Collingwood acquired during a busy off-season. Magpies GM Graham Wright, who is also currently the acting CEO, completed the paperwork on a deal with Greater Western Sydney for Bobby Hill on the opening day of the Continental Tyres AFL Trade Period. Then the club secured McStay the following day before getting Billy Frampton done 24 hours out from the deadline, leaving the final day to finalise the deal for Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell. 

In the minutes before McStay's move from Brisbane to Collingwood became official, the Eastern Ranges product bumped into Mitchell outside Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles ahead of a pre-season NBA game. By the time they had walked inside, the deal was done and the two strangers were one step closer to becoming teammates.

"We ran into each other about to head to a Lakers game," he said. "We were looking at each other like, 'Are you about to head to Collingwood?' We caught up afterwards and had a drink. It was cool to have that moment."

Now McStay and Mitchell are teammates. Both have made strong starts to the pre-season at the AIA Centre. If Collingwood is going to take another step forward in 2023, Craig McRae will need his two big-name recruits to help drive this group deep into September.