Essendon recruit Matthew Leuenberger has revealed that he left the Lions during last season's trade period due to having to travel every second week and the club's run down facilities.
Speaking on Melbourne radio station SEN on Thursday, Leuenberger said that he believed not needing to travel interstate every second week was hugely beneficial.
"The large reason for wanting to come to Melbourne, I just felt not having to travel every second week would have a huge benefit on my body," Leuenberger said.
"It's pretty cool to be honest, you have three or four weeks in Melbourne and don't have to travel, you have one week away and come back and your body feels good for it.
"I certainly noticed in my time at Brisbane, towards the back end of the season when you're travelling every second week, it almost starts to take a toll on you.
"Checking in and out of hotels and spending time in airports which doesn't sound like much but it adds up, so lucky to be in the position I am now."
The 27-year-old also revealed that the Lions' facilities are simply not up to scratch, with Essendon's facilities blowing his old club's out of the water.
"It's quite a thrill to be able to go to a club like Essendon where there's a lot of money and great facilities," he said.
"It's great to come in every day, lift your weights there and train there, all under the one facility.
"Not having to go to Coorparoo for training, back to the Gabba for recovery then off to a swimming pool in Cannon Hill.
"I feel like I've gone from one extreme to another .. the facilities are so different. There's no natural sun light in the Brisbane training faculties, you go under ground with a poky little gym and not much of meeting room and tiny offices.
"You go to Essendon and it's huge, the gym is almost as big as the Brisbane Lions facilities."
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