Brisbane look set to make moves via this year's trade and free agency mechanisms in the hope of bolstering their attacking ranks following the retirement of premiership forward Joe Daniher.
Daniher was nothing short of a mercurial player. He made the unbelievable believable. He was an entertainer, a spectacle unto himself and, most importantly for the Brisbane Lions, their most compelling forward.
Not many AFL clubs employ a player capable of taking the opposing team's best defender and playing second ruck in the same game. Nor do they employ one that could guarantee you a barrage of goals in any given season and take that form through to the biggest stages of the AFL season.
That's why the gaping chasm left in Daniher's retirement is something the Lions will need to address promptly. 2025 is the year of the stop-gap acquisition; Sam Day. Day has been a serviceable AFL player for a long time, but no one is suggesting he will be able to replicate even half of what Daniher was able to provide.
Same can be said for Brandon Ryan, who Brisbane acquired in the trade that sent Jack Gunston back to the Hawks in 2023.
With that in mind, Brisbane will be in the market to poach a big-name forward to play alongside Eric Hipwood and the budding Logan Morris for 2026 onwards.Â
Here we name four players out of contract at the end of 2025 who Brisbane should be in the market for at the end of this season, starting with West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen following recent trade links to the Lions.
1. Oscar Allen
Out of all the suggested names, Oscar Allen would be the biggest coup for a number of reasons.
Let's clear the simplest reason first. He's co-captain alongside Liam Duggan in one of, if not the biggest club in the country. He has bided his time as Josh J. Kennedy and Jack Darling's accomplices. He is now the out-and-out focal point for the West Coast Eagles.
He's also a brilliant goalkicker, highlighted by his seventh-place finish in 2023 where he kicked 53 goals for what was a disturbingly poor Eagles side. Standing at 196cm, he's not overwhelmingly large but is extremely strong and agile and understands how to use his body.

He's also played secondary ruck for West Coast in the past. Entering his age 26 season in 2025, Allen is stepping into his prime and would be the beneficiary of a formidable midfield group at the Lions.
There's no doubt that Allen would be the dream target, and Brisbane are already laying the groundwork in order to get him to cross to Queensland.