Incoming Brisbane Lions coach Justin Leppitsch has been able to stem the tide of young players leaving the AFL club by convincing James Polkinghorne to stay.
A chat with Leppitsch has persuaded homesick Victorian Polkinghorne to sign a one-year extension along with veteran defender Matt Maguire.
Polkinghorne had been expected to join the quintet dubbed the “Go Home Five” by Lions teammates and return to his home state.
Billy Longer (St Kilda), Jared Polec (Port Adelaide), Sam Docherty (Carlton), Elliot Yeo (West Coast) and Patrick Karnezis (Collingwood) all went home during the AFL Trade period, copping a whack on Twitter for their trouble.
Lions young guns Tom Rockliff and Pearce Hanley took to social media to criticise them, with Irish import Hanley tagging his Twitter message #mummiesboysarehomenow.
All five had been unable to secure a regular senior side spot but had suggested homesickness was behind their departure.
Leppitsch had hoped to convince Longer, Yeo and Docherty to stay, but to no avail.
However, the new Lions mentor had a breakthrough after Polkinghorne, 24, signed on for 2014 along with Maguire.
“It’s probably no secret that James spent some time over the off-season weighing up his AFL future but after speaking with new senior coach Justin Leppitsch decided to remain in Brisbane,” Lions football manager Dean Warren said.
“The club sees him as being a valuable player who is about to enter the prime of his career.
“Matt, on the other hand, is about to reach the twilight of his career but his performances over the past few years have shown that he can still match it with some of the best forwards in the competition.”
Polkinghorne has played 92 AFL games in six seasons and ex-Saint Maguire 155 overall, including 56 with the Lions.
The pair will return for pre-season training with the Lions squad on Monday before heading to Arizona for high altitude training.
Meanwhile, injury plagued 22-year-old Jesse O’Brien will not be offered a new contract as the club prepares to welcome their draft picks next month.
He played 17 games in four seasons with the Lions after being recruited from North Adelaide with pick No.73 at the 2009 AFL Draft.
“Following the trade period, it became apparent that we would need to find another spot on our list so that we could potentially use our six selections inside the second round of the upcoming draft,” Warren said.
“Unfortunately Jesse was a casualty of the list management process.”