Brisbane are not ruling out a bombshell trade play to lure a rival star forward to the Queensland capital following the retirement of key forward Joe Daniher.
Daniher officially called time on his 204-game, 395-goal career on Thursday - five days after he helped lead the Lions to their first premiership in 21 years.
The 30-year-old led the club's goalkicking this year and in 2023, combining for 119 goals across the two campaigns, while he won the same honour on four occasions during his eight years on Essendon's list.
The void he leaves under coach Chris Fagan is sizeable, with Brisbane now potentially on the hunt for a key forward who can slot into a spot alongside premiership teammates Eric Hipwood and Logan Morris, who booted 33 and 24 goals this year respectively.
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The Lions have known of the uncertainty surrounding Daniher for several months, placing them in a position to be proactive ahead of this year's player movement period.
Speaking onย Trade Radio,ย Brisbane football manager Danny Daly said the Lions will look to be "pretty active" over the coming fortnight in the hope of securing a Daniher replacement.
"There's been a bit of work done by (list manager) Dom Ambrogio the last few months," Daly said.
"They're hard to get, key forwards. I'm sure there'll be a lot of discussions between Dom and other clubs about some potential key forwards that are out there.
"The really good [key forwards] are in contract, so we might have to make do with what we've got on our list.
"We'll be pretty active to see what's out there and hopefully trying to bring someone in that can replace [Daniher] to the best of their ability."
The Lions haven't ruled out a sizeable move for another club's star forward, even if they are under contract.
Wanting to defend their premiership in 2025, Daly said the club will do what it again to remain at the summit.
"You've got to do your due diligence as a football club. We're pretty keen to go again and get back up to the top of the ladder," he added.
"If you want to do that as a footy club then you've got to be right on top of your game and exhaust all avenues to keep making your team and list better. 100 per cent we'll be doing that.
When asked about prying big-name forwards such as Tom Lynch, Harry McKay and King twins Max and Ben, Daly said the Lions will welcome discussions with top-line attackers.
"Absolutely, if they're around and interested in talking to us, 100 per cent," the Brisbane footy boss said.
"All of those guys are contracted, so it's going to be pretty hard to try and manipulate something with one of those.
"But you never know, do you? Unless you ask the question."
Brisbane have Picks 18, 56 and 69 for this year's AFL Draft and will need to tally the required draft points to match bids for potential first-round duo Levi Ashcroft and Sam Marshall.
The 2024 AFL Trade Period opens on Monday and will run until 7:30pm (AEST) on Wednesday, October 16.
