The off-season departures of Patrick Karnezis, Elliot Yeo, Sam Docherty, Billy Longer and Jared Polec has left Ryan Lester as one of only three players remaining at the Brisbane Lions from the 2010 and 2011 AFL National Drafts.

Lester (drafted in 2010) – along with Josh Green (2010) and Patrick Wearden (2011) – now represents a key demographic in the make-up of the Lions’ list.

And fortunately, unlike some of his former contemporaries, the 21-year-old from Victoria doesn’t plan on going anywhere.

“I moved away from home, the same as a lot of the boys, and tried my best to enjoy myself and do the best that I could,” Lester revealed on the first edition of the Fancast for 2014.

“I’ve got a lot of very close mates up here now, so am definitely very happy to be up in Brisbane.”

“Me and Greeny have joked a few times that we’re the last ones standing.”

But Lester harbours no ill feelings towards his former homesick teammates, and still keeps in regular contact with them.

“It was (hard to lose them), but you realise and understand their situations,” Lester said.

“The writing was on the wall midway through the year, so it wasn’t really a shock with a few of those boys.

“I’m still in contact with quite a few of them, and I’ll remain good friends with them.”

The Club has since gone to great lengths to try and understand the reasons behind the so-called ‘player exodus’, with Lester already noticing a change in the football environment during the pre-season.

“On the back of the five boys leaving, the Club’s had a look at not just what we do at training, but also what we do outside of training,” he said.

“There now seems to be a more relaxed environment and the boys can enjoy themselves. I think that’s been a big catalyst for that freshen-up.

“I’ve definitely been questioned from time to time by some of our leaders about how I’ve found it and what my first impressions were.

“But it comes down to the individual at the end of the day.”

Lester was also quizzed about ‘that’ missed kick in the dying stages of the Round 23 match against Geelong at Simonds Stadium which, at the time, could have potentially handed the Lions a Finals berth.

“I got over it once we were on the bus and Carlton beat Port Adelaide (making the result of the Lions’ match irrelevant),” Lester said.

“It all became a big joke after that. It was obviously disappointing and could have been a good moment for me, but we just joke about that now.”