"Leppa," said Craig Lambert to his close friend Justin Leppitsch, "you have such a great heart. When will these players see the heart that I know?" It was that observation last October, according to Lambert, that was one turning point in the latest phase of the relationship between the two men that began when they became teammates more than two decades ago.

Having spent five years as surrogate parents during the birth of Greater Western Sydney, caring for a large proportion of Australia's best young football talent, Lambert and his wife Melissa had returned to Brisbane after two years of urging to help stem the bleeding of young talent out of the under-resourced and occasionally hostile environment in the bowels of the Gabba.

"I laughed when people said Leppa's bringing in another 'yes man'," said Lambert. "We're great mates but we're very different and we argue a lot. We've had some ding dong stoushes. I'm purely relationship-driven and he's very technical- and process-driven.

"He has a great heart but he had to show his players he had a great heart. That confrontation was a pivotal moment for us. Over October we had some heated discussions and I had to hold him accountable.

"If you're not good at relationships but you can coach ... you can be the greatest coach but you're not going to win without the relationships. I honestly believe he's done that with the way he's coached this year and the way he's built those relationships and built their self-belief in each other. I can see he's invested so much in our players."

It would be overstating it to credit the Lamberts alone for the happier environment at the Gabba in 2016 but it is true that at this early stage the environment has changed. The coach by all reports has softened the style that was at odds at least with the departed Jack Redden and is more relaxed after being under some pressure last year. The AFL actually put the heat on Brisbane not to apply a full payout in Leppitsch's one-year contract extension but the club refused.

And the divisions among the footballers look to have both healed and been eradicated by certain player departures. Lambert had identified the previously disgruntled Dayne Zorko as a "connector" soon after his arrival and points to his four-year contract extension as a significant fillip for Brisbane while Daniel Rich, heading for free agency, has committed until 2021.

Those two, along with Pearce Hanley, head 13 re-signings over the past seven months with only Darcy Gardiner, Josh Green, Sam Mayes and Lewis Taylor coming out of contract in 2016 and only Mayes looking truly shaky.

Lambert's official title in this his third incarnation at Brisbane is strategy and retention manager. Having played 96 games for the club — he won his second best and fairest and an all-Australian selection with the Lions after Richmond let him go after 123 games at the end of 1993 — Lambert became an assistant to Leigh Matthews in the northern club's first premiership year.

According to long-time Lions stalwarts, Melissa Lambert is performing the same player welfare role she did previously at Brisbane only now she is on the payroll.

Matthews — now the Brisbane vice-president, the Lions' vocal advocate in the corridors of power at the AFL and a strong Leppitsch supporter — first approached the Lamberts to return to the fold more than two years ago as Leppitsch was embarking on his rookie senior coaching year. At the end of the tumultuous 2013 season, five players under 21 including Elliot Yeo, Jared Polec and Sam Docherty had insisted upon trades and Tom Rockliff had to be convinced to stay.

"Not too many people say no to Leigh," said Lambert. "You know how hard he is, how stubborn. He had me covered but not my wife. Even though we're Melbourne people we see Brisbane as home and we love this club but at the Giants we didn't feel our job had been done. Mel said to me: 'How do we sell the dream to these kids and their parents if we leave ourselves?'

"At the Giants there were so many talented young kids and our job was to help hold that group together emotionally and try to get those kids re-signed. How cool a job is that? We knew it was a fragmented club here ... you don't lose as many players as we were losing. Obviously there was a fair bit of turmoil and unrest.

"If you build a great family environment and caring environment then not too many leave. You lose the odd star like Gary Ablett for commercial reasons, but not too many others.

"If I was a club CEO the first person I would bring into a club would be my wife. If you were setting up a football club in the most remote environment in the world, under the most hostile conditions with bombs going off, then Mel is the one who would say let's go there and help out." Added Melissa: "We knew there were some unhappy people here and that it hadn't been a good place to be. And our daughter had moved back here and we still had the family home and we felt we could leave the Giants having done our job.

"If you want to do welfare at a club, you've got to live it. It's an unpredictable job and most of the work we do is after hours and on days off. Our kids are used to plans changing and being asked to move out of their bedroom. But every year we say: 'Are you happy with this arrangement?' Because if they weren't, we wouldn't do it, we would always put them first." The Lamberts have four children: Brylee, 20, Billy, 18, Bailey, 17 and Bodey 14. Last Saturday night dinner plans were cancelled and a room change required when the battered Stefan Martin, who lives alone, came to stay after his clash with Steven May and Melissa sat up with him. During the pre-season Billy Lambert was booted out of his room to make room for the convalescing 20-year-old defender Daniel McStay after wisdom teeth removal. That along with regular deliveries of lasagnas, schnitzels, a new fresh calendar of social events and a renewed and stronger connection with the parents of first- and second-year players whose boys are far from home.

Martin asked Lambert a question only two others — Michael Voss and Stephen Coniglio — had asked previously: "How do you guys do it?" Lambert stressed again that his unusual life arrangement only works so long as his own children believe that they remain the most important people in his life. Melissa added: "I might be [the players'] surrogate mother but I'm not their mother and their mothers know that." And Craig Lambert stressed it would be wrong to imply that he had placed all the heat only upon Leppitsch but across the club and more specifically upon himself. "All I asked the players when I came here was to give us a chance," he said, "a chance to help take this football club to another level.

"If we got to the point where you saw another seven players, say, wanting to leave the club against our wishes, then no one will need to tap me on the shoulder because I'll be tapping myself. The fact is you don't get a second chance with first impressions.

"Every football club should have someone dedicated to helping the first-year players, teaching them to cook and clean and wash and look after themselves living out of home. If there's girlfriend issues, then Mel is fantastic; homesickness, the same. There's nothing the Lamberts won't do."