Tom Lynch floated as Brisbane Lions replacement after Joe Daniher's retirement confirmed

The Brisbane Lions are being tipped to make a play for a big-name replacement after Joe Daniher confirmed his retirement on Thursday, and Tom Lynch's name has been thrown up straight away. Lions coach Chris Fagan revealed on Thursday night that Daniher had been planning to call it quits in 2023 if they beat Collingwood in last year's decider.

But their loss spurred him to play on, and it paid dividends when the Lions won the flag 12 months later. Speculation is now rife about whether Brisbane will move to replace Daniher internally, and look to land a big fish in a trade with another club.

Discussing the situation on AFL trade radio, leading reporter Damien Barrett said Richmond veteran Lynch would be the ideal target. The 31-year-old has only played eight games over the last two seasons due to injury, but would offer plenty of experience if he still has enough left in the tank.

“The challenge now starts for the Lions,” Barrett said. “They're in the hitting zone. They've played in the last two grand finals, and they've played in the past six finals series. They are there to win premierships. Right now, that is their model.

“They've got so many good players in the hitting zone. I've got the view that they’ve got to replace Joe with as much of a like-for-like as they possibly can. There's a guy who's played eight games in two years, he's a two-time premiership player and his name is Tom Lynch at the Richmond Football Club.”

Barrett pointed out that the Lions have a good track record in getting players back to their best after injury issues. “I know that he's on $1.4 million - it's a back-ended deal that he's on to continue or to complete his career at Richmond under that initial contract,” Barrett said. “But he's the type of player I would be at least talking about internally if I had anything to do with the control of the Brisbane Lions football department.”

Lachie Neale responds after Joe Daniher's AFL retirement

Some are tipping the Lions' premiership to be the start of a long-term dynasty, but they'll need to buck a concerning recent trend. Three of the last four premiers have failed to make the finals the following year, and the only reigning champion to win a finals game the next season is Richmond in 2020.

But Fagan is quietly confident they can overcome Daniher's exit and re-write history, having been in a similar situation with Hawthorn when Buddy Franklin left for Sydney after the Hawks won the flag in 2013. Hawthorn comfortably beat the Swans in the decider the next year, then thumped West Coast to make it three-straight flags.

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The Lions could look for a short-term fix to fill the Daniher void, or bank on their current crop to do the job in slightly different fashion. "No idea yet," Lachie Neale said of how they'd replace Daniher on Thursday night at the club's best and fairest night.

"Eric (Hipwood) has played that role before at a young age. Logan (Morris), Brandon Ryan, Darcy Fort and O (Oscar McInerney) ... who knows?"

Neale capped off his superb year by winning a sixth club best and fairest - his fourth in six years at Brisbane following two at Fremantle. He said the internal discussions are already positive regarding next season.

"It's pretty strong," he said of the group's hunger for more. "We've got to get back to work ... it's easy to get found out. Collingwood this year, Geelong the year before won it and missed the finals a year after."

with AAP