Ultimate player ratings: Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane rate every Brisbane player

The Lions are stacked with talent, but there’s one young gun they need to hit another level quickly. GLENN MCFARLANE and JON RALPH rate every Lion.

Brisbane Lions AFL player ratings

Cam Rayner and Zac Bailey are Brisbane’s front-half cameo kings, but can the Lions’ dynamic duo turn those flashes of brilliance into four-quarter performances?

Chris Fagan’s uber-talented team came so close to the ultimate prize last year that they could almost touch it, only to fall heartbreakingly short against Collingwood.

Improvement is needed to back up that effort — and Rayner and Bailey could hold the keys to taking the Lions back to that last Saturday in September.

Raynor is a one-time No. 1 draft pick who has had his injury challenges across his career.

He finished fifth in the best and fairest last season.

Criteria: Prediction of their 2024 performance based on their 2023 season, expected improvement and role in their side.

He is good, but he can be great if he can perform forward and at times in the midfield on a more regular basis.

Think his four-goal haul against the Magpies early last season, or his imposing three majors in the qualifying final against Port Adelaide.

He is still only 24, but has never kicked 25 or more goals in a season. Now is the time.

Bailey, too, has a touch of magic about him, as evidenced by his superb team-lifting second-term goal in the grand final.

Can Zac Bailey and Cam Rayner become more consistent four-quarter players in 2024? Picture: Getty Images

It was inspirational and would have been talked about forever if the Lions had saluted against the Magpies.

But has he got another level to go to?

Surely, he has, as his consistency remains an issue, evidenced by the fact that he missed the top-10 in the club’s best and fairest last year.

If the cameo kings can perform on a more consistent basis, the Lions’ flag coronation could be a step closer.

Originally published as Ultimate player ratings: Jon Ralph and Glenn McFarlane rate every Brisbane player