Brisbane Lions hungry for back-to-back AFL premierships after grand final glory

The all-conquering Brisbane Lions have shown no signs of complacency during their first block of pre-season training.

The Lions have promised not to take their foot off the premiership pedal as they strive for back-to-back AFL flags.

After a two-month break following Brisbane’s first grand final win since 2003, Lions players have been anything but complacent during a three-week block of pre-season training.

“It’s a long season, and we’re still two or three months away, but we’ve got to do the right things now and create the right habits now,” experienced Brisbane defender Ryan Lester said on Wednesday after the Lions’ final training session before their Christmas break.

“Because we got the result last year, it’s not about taking shortcuts and lapping up the pats on the back that you get.

“It’s about continually doing the right things, and with the culture that we’ve built here, and that’s taken a long time to build, we want to maintain that.

“We’re very lucky with the environment we’ve got, so we’ve got to keep buying into it, and that’s what we’ve been doing.

“We’re just really excited for what’s to come in 2025.”

The Lions are chasing back-to-back AFL premierships. Picture: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images

While successive premierships was the obvious goal, Lester said the Lions’ initial target would be a top-four spot.

It was something the Chris Fagan-coached Brisbane side failed to achieve last season, with a fifth-place finish on the ladder meaning they walked the sudden-death tightrope for the entire four-week finals series.

“I feel really driven just to finish top four, and that’s the feeling that I get among all boys, but that’s probably similar every year in that we strive for that,” Lester said.

“For the last (eight) years since ‘Fages’ (Fagan) has been here, we’ve always strived to earn respect from the competition, and we’ve slowly done that.

“Now we want to be a team that’s up there again and again.”

If the Lions are to win consecutive premierships, it will be without star forward Joe Daniher, who retired after Brisbane’s 60-point grand-final thrashing of Sydney in September.

To help fill the void left by Daniher, the Lions have recruited 32-year-old Sam Day, who after 14 seasons with the Gold Coast was deemed surplus to requirements by the Suns.

Former Suns star Sam Day has impressed since linking with the Lions. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“He’s filling a hole that we really need at the moment, and from what we’ve seen out on the (training) track and what we’ve seen over the last 14 years of his career, we’re really confident that he can do that for us,” Lester said of Day.

Lester said father-son draft pick Levi Ashcroft had been on a limited schedule due to shoulder surgery that forced him to miss October’s draft combine.

“Unfortunately, Levi’s coming off a shoulder reconstruction, so he hasn’t done a lot with the main group yet,” he said.