Senior Coach Justin Leppitsch spoke candidly with Greg Davis from The Courier Mail last weekend about his first season at the helm of the Brisbane Lions. Please find some excerpts from the Q&A.

GREG DAVIS: Has the silver lining to all the injuries been that you’ve given the kids games and you have a fast-tracked idea of what’s at your disposal?

JUSTIN LEPPITSCH: It’s been a learning year for everybody. Exposing the players like we have at the top level, you learn even more. We’ve achieved a lot apart from the wins and losses.

Has there been a moment this year when you had second thoughts about taking on the job?

Yeah (laughs). Second thoughts ... third thoughts.

Any particular game?

I must say, if we had’ve lost the St Kilda game (in Wellington), I probably would have had some doubts then. Not on the long-term planning but we just needed a win.

What’s the toughest part of the senior coaching gig?

It’s building the belief in the playing group. Making them realise they can do it, that they can stick to a game plan and get some results.

Do you have to be a bit of everything to the young players — amateur psychologist. big brother, teacher, boss?

You have to be. I’m lucky that I lived it as a young player in the same situation as them now. That puts me in a good place to talk to them.

When you coach the Brisbane Lions, you are also the face of the sport. How do you handle that?

The big picture element is fine with me. You need to be the face of footy in the town. The hardest part in the early days was that and teaching the players and the coaches about what my expectations were. The coaching staff have been great, I can’t take all the credit.

How is Simon Black going with the computer?

He’s found the “on” button. That’s good for him. But seriously, he’s been very good.

How often do you talk to Leigh Matthews? How invaluable is he as a sounding board?

I spoke to him a lot when I was at Richmond. We’d catch up once a month. Now, it’s obviously a lot more frequent. He’s been great for me, the footy department and the club as a whole.

Was it an uneasy feeling taking over from Michael Voss as Lions senior coach?

It was weird. A month had passed since Michael left before I had been asked to apply. If someone had asked me three days after, I would probably have said no. Just because it was too early and it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.

I was probably a bit bitter that he had left under those circumstances, too. But a month had passed and I wanted to apply for my own purposes but I wanted to help the club. From afar, the club was in a bit of trouble and I thought I could help.

It’s been a busy year for Michael but we’ve caught up a few times.

How do you unwind? I’ve heard you do Bikram yoga?

People do it for different and deeper reasons but it keeps my old footy injuries in check more anything.

What’s more stressful, being a senior coach or father of three girls?

That’s a good question. The 10-year-old and the eight-year-old have started to bicker now. That’s getting tiresome but I love my daughters.

You seem to have a very even, calm manner after games. Is ranting and raving a thing of the past?

I get fired-up during games. At times, I will behave poorly. But throughout the week, I don’t see a point. I understand human beings, we all make mistakes and there’s a way to fix them. If people don’t want to fix them, they won’t be in the team. You have to look at things logically.

As one of the drivers of Brisbane’s Mad Mondays and footy trips in your playing days, what was your greatest triumph?

Craig McRae and I ran the social component for the team. The beep test was probably the best. The rookies did it. There were plastic cups with 100ml of beer at each end. Craig made up a tape especially for it. The last man standing won the Rising Star Award.

Who is the teacher’s pet at the Gabba, Dayne Zorko or Tom Rockliff?

It was Zorko early because he was flying in the pre-season. People think it’s Rocky now because he sits in this office the most. He also annoys me the most.

You publicly whacked Rocky for his two suspensions. Will you do the same for creating an Instagram account for his pet sausage dog?

No. We all love Killa. I can’t bag him. He’s the best.