Will they improve? Will they regress? The big questions facing the Brisbane Lions in 2025

SEN Breakfast hosts Kane Cornes and Sam Edmund have run their eyes over the Brisbane Lions and how they’re shaping up for the 2025 campaign.

With the trade and free agency period now complete, Cornes and Edmund discussed how the club may improve in 2025, how they may regress if things go wrong and the big questions facing the club next season.

The Lions finished the home and away season in 5th before a dominant finals series which delivered them the 2024 premiership.

How can they improve?

“I’ve got two words for why they improve, Levi Ashcroft, here he comes," Edmund said on SEN Breakfast.

“Andrew Bassat, if he was whinging before he’s going to be whinging at the sight of this, the next father-son from Marcus is going to make a real splash.

“Keiden Coleman comes back from the knee, the string puller.

Cornes added: “You’re right, the players that are coming back like Tom Doedee, it’s a big if, when and how he comes back, and how cautious they are with him.

“Lincoln McCarthy is a gun, but you always have questions for a first year after an ACL and how they return.

“Levi Ashcroft probably gives you 18 touches and some really important midfield minutes, but they’re going to have to share this because their midfield is stacked.

“They’ll start their year better you’d think, they’ll learn their lessons from last year and won’t have themselves in a position where every game is cut-throat toward the end of the year."

How might they regress?

“You just can’t replace Joe Daniher, it’s an impossible hole to fill retiring in-contract, so I think we’re going to really appreciate Joe Daniher’s influence even more here, and we’ll see what Logan Morris is made of, and more is needed from Eric Hipwood," Edmund said.

The other 2025 burning questions

“The question for me is how they line up inside 50 as a resolve," Edmund said.

"Will it be a two key forward setup? Will it be Hipwood and Morris, and then just the hybrids and the smalls? They have plenty, but do they adjust how they line up inside 50?”

Cornes added: “Does Cam Rayner play more as a permanent medium forward who can really mark it above his head, but they are stacked, and this is the challenge for the coaching staff with how they adjust their game plan with their entries.

“You certainly don’t want to go more arial, can it be more dynamic, can it be more ground-level because once the ball hits the ground, look out.

“I think they’ll get some improvements from some players that were down this year, like Charlie Cameron, who didn’t have a great year, he’s capable of kicking 50. 

“I don’t think Zac Bailey had a great year, and he’s capable of big things, and of course the injuries that they’ve had."