Brisbane's ominous warning to the competition came in the form of ruck recruit Sam Draper.
The Lion has already made an immense impact on his new club, and there's fears he's got more to give.
Draper has put together a strong season to date, despite sitting out the majority of last year due to an Achilles injury in Essendon colours, but has started to come into his own.
The two years proceeding, he didn't top 16 games, and since he entered the AFL, he has only played one full season (2022). But the rejuvenation of a move to the sunshine state, which many have done successfully, has clearly had an effect.
Draper shared the walls at Tullamarine with Joe Daniher for one year, before the latter took up a deal at the Lions that proved fortuitous. His injury run at the Bombers was similar to the ruckman, if not worse, playing 15 games in the three seasons before moving to Brisbane.
Daniher's four years at the Lions yielded 96 games, two grand finals and one premiership before his shock retirement. He would've had two if he stayed.
Daniher's decision to move on from football opened more space in the salary cap, and 12 months later, Draper arrived along with fellow free agent Oscar Allen.
The move has been damning. And as they say, when one door closes, another opens.
The Lions have always possessed a strong midfield group, boasting the likes of two-time Brownlow Medallist Lachie Neale, Josh Dunkley, Hugh McCluggage, Will Ashcroft and a raft of others who pinch hit such as Zac Bailey, Cam Rayner and Jarrod Berry.
However, the ruck role has previously been filled by unheralded premiership duo Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort. Now it's Draper's team.
Since he's joined, the Lions have improved their clearance game from +5.3 last year to +9.4. A further deep-dive will indicate the club's major uptick in scores from stoppage, turning Draper's hitout dominance to its advantage.
Recorded by Wheeloratings, Brisbane is the best centre ball-up scoring differential team in 2026 (+7.9), which is a major turnaround from its 16th-placed position last year (-2.6).
As a result, scores from stoppage has Chris Fagan's men rising from 8th (+2.1) to 2nd this year (+8.8), sitting behind Fremantle.
On Thursday, coming up against All-Australian fancy Brodie Grundy, Draper produced his sixth-best game of his injury-riddled career, which has churned out 92 matches.
A player rating of 18.9 came from seven disposals, three clearances, three inside 50s and a goal. But his ruck work was what was valued at a premium, winning 24 hit-outs, but 12 were to the advantage of Lions teammates, which are worth their weight in gold.
His incredible 50 per cent strike rate is due to his effectiveness when directing the ball with his hand.
In 666 ruck contests he's competed in this year, Draper has won the tap 107 times. But his 36.9 percent hitout-to-advantage rate reigns supreme over all but one of his counterparts for those participating in 400 or more ruck contests.
Only GWS' Kieren Briggs has a slightly better deft touch (37.1 percent).
Daniher lived a similar narrative once he traded out the red sash for the maroon. His relatively injury-free run in Lions colours proved pivotal to the club's premiership push, and who could forget his match-winning performance in the 2024 semi-final comeback against the Giants.
Draper is more than capable of producing a match-winning effort, and his game against the Swans, and Grundy, was as much a warning to the league as a lion licking his chops.
Brisbane is beginning to stalk its prey, and its all-out assault on three consecutive flags is well and truly alive.
