It was late 2015 and Toby McLean was looking for somewhere to live.

The former Oakleigh Charger had been taken with the 26^th pick of the 2014 NAB AFL Draft, and had settled with a host family to help his transition into AFL football. 

But at late notice the situation had changed and McLean needed to organise new arrangements, and quickly.

“I was planning to live with them for my second year but things changed,” he told the Freedom in a Cage podcast.

“Everyone else had found somewhere to live, and I got given two weeks to find (something) because they were taking in another player from another club.”

And then it hit him: Dale Morris, had a granny flat.  So McLean hatched a plan.  Not a sophisticated one, but a plan none the less.

“He's such a good bloke and I knew he had his granny flat out the back,” he recalled to co-hosts Bob Murph and Adrian Brown.

“So I went to him and trapped him in his car and I was like 'Dale, I need somewhere to live', and of course the man that he is, he said yes.”

But there was one more hurdle to clear, Dale’s wife, Gem, but the McLean charm ultimately got him a roof over his head.

“He went home to his wife Gem and she wasn't too sure about it, obviously, but as soon as she met me and I got to know the kids, they were glad they took me in,” he said.

“It was fresh, it was quite cold but it was very peaceful.  I was only there two days a week, a Tuesday and Thursday after main training sessions.

“I went back home to stay at my Mum's for the rest of the time.”

Click here to listen to this week’s episode or you can find the podcast and subscribe to it on iTunes, TuneIn Radio, and AudioBoom, or simply by searching "Freedom In A Cage" in the search section of any of these podcast platforms.

Aussie basketball legend and renowned Bulldogs fan Chris Anstey will be in the host’s co-chair this week while Adrian Brown is out of town, and Daniel Giansiracusa will join as a  guest.