The Lions Have Landed: AFL’s New Dynasty and the Trade Period

One rider on Lions-phobia is similar projections were made about the barnstorming Melbourne of 2021, and we know what didn’t happen for them.

In addition to Draper and Allen, Brisbane will add a midfielder rated as top five in the national draft, Daniel Annable, from their Queensland academy. The prospective loss of Brandon Starcevich (West Coast) and Callum Ah Chee (adelaide) hits, but would be necessary to find the space for those free agents and draft picks/points for Annable.

When Gold Coast and then the Giants first arrived in the AFL, constructed by head office with a vast array of generous recruiting concessions, doomsayers warned that dynasties were certain. The Russians were coming!

As we know, the Suns couldn’t keep their talent and the Giants, despite their excellence, couldn’t pay everyone.

But this time, the Russians have landed. This Lions side has the capability to win a third and even fourth flag if the planets align in their favour.

The upcoming trade period, thus, can be viewed as the first opportunity for some of those 17 rivals to attempt to close the gap that the Lions have opened up.

Hawthorn are the obvious watch as they’ve gone hard after Merrett and if they landed the essendon skipper, would take a step towards the crown.

Essendon’s internal politics – evident in the ascension to the presidency of Andrew Welsh – and the fact of Merrett’s ongoing contract make that pursuit highly problematic. Welsh has flat out said Merrett is out of bounds.

Will hawthorn keep up their zach attack, or flick the switch to plan B, which could still be Petracca? Or someone else.

Petracca has been raised as a possibility for one of gold Coast or Adelaide, both of which made great leaps forward this year.

The tendency within the competition has been to view each season as a entirely fresh beginning, with a third of the teams or more reckoning themselves in the running for the flag.

Brisbane’s position is completely unlike Geelong post-2022 or that of Collingwood after their 2023 flag. they shape as more formidable.