Before Luke Hodge even arrived in Brisbane he was sent a dossier of game footage from Lions coach Chris Fagan.
Ever since he has done his best to shape the AFL club's promising young players.
A 0-8 start to his time in Queensland suggests things haven't gone to script since his surprise backflip on retirement.
But ahead of his first match against his former Hawthorn teammates on Sunday the champion defender says he is still happy with his work so far.
"It's been as I expected; I watched a lot of footy of Brisbane before I came up ... they've listened and tried to adapt to the advice I'd given them a lot more than I thought," Hodge said ahead of Sunday's Gabba clash.
"You know what young kids are like, they come in and try and do it their own way.
"But these guys, if anything, follow it to the nth degree."
The Lions are on the bottom of the ladder but coach Chris Fagan is careful to note they have made big strides, decreasing their average losing margin significantly in the last three seasons.
They have come close in six of eight games this season and Hodge believes only a "bit of polish" is needed to break the drought against a Hawks team he won four flags with.
But he isn't fretting about the win and loss column, rather marking himself on how much improvement he sees in the Lions' young list by season's end.
"It's a process and we can't worry and skip forward," he said.
"We're building a foundation and i think it's a good foundation ... when that time comes we don't know but the first eight games shows the improvement's been there and been there really quickly."
The Lions will field the same team in back-to-back games for the first time this season, while Hawthorn have been forced into six changes.
James Frawley (shoulder) and Jaeger O'Meara (calf) will both miss the Gabba clash while Paul Puopolo is back from injury and Mitch Lewis will debut.
Fagan said shutting down ball magnet Tom Mitchell would be important, but perhaps not decisive.
"Teams across the course of the last 18 months have let him get that much of the ball and still been able to beat them," the former Hawthorn football manager said.
"We're mindful of his great talent around the ground and stoppages ... we'll have a few plans in place to try and quell his influence."
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