Who are you thinking?
Anyone.
Like? I don’t think there are many tbh.
Their good young players are best 22.
Maybe not right not but a squeeze will come. The next crop they draft and develop would most likely be just as good
I don’t think so (a squeeze forcing out young players that is)
They will just shuffle some of the older ones out. Bailey might be the only one they lose that they really want to keep.
Can anyone get remotely near them next year? Cant see Pies or Cats improving next year
1 Like
If Crows have Rankine and Rachele back and add Petracca they will be good.
2 Likes
I seriously doubt they get Petracca but they will be throwing everything at Bailey next year
I reckon you could get Kiddie Coleman cheap at the moment.
2 Likes
I know he did the knee last year, but what caused him to miss a stack of footy this year?
He’s definitely worth a punt at the right price irrespective of injury risk, though.
1 Like
They also in 2016 got the trade back one spot with GWS (#3 for #2) that got the pick they used on Berry. A trade that reputedly (according to Blitz in-the-knows) we never got offered.
1 Like
That’s 2 years of 4 wins or under for you.
We won a whopping 6 in 2015, which ruled us out.
You don’t think the reason we finished last in 2016, such as a bunch of players being suspended, might not also have had something to do with us not getting a priority pick?
2 Likes
I recall a decent amount of discussion at the time suggesting Essendon shouldn’t be getting draft picks at all, or end of round only or whatever. I’m still frankly kind of surprised we got to keep pick 1.
1 Like
I’m sure it did. Not sure if you misinterpreted my post, but I wasn’t complaining about not getting one.
From memory at the time, the general “consensus” was you’d need at least 2 very poor seasons to be considered (though not flat out stated in the rules).
Brisbane had that, we didn’t.
1 Like
The Barometer under high pressure.
Former Brisbane Lions player banned for three years under AFL anti-doping rules
ByJake Niall
October 29, 2025 — 7.33pm
Former Brisbane Lions player Rhys Mathieson has been handed a three-year ban for violating the Australian football anti-doping code, a finding that will be announced soon.
Mathieson’s penalty - slated to be announced by the AFL and Sport Integrity Australia - has been reduced from a maximum of four years, following discussions with the parties, in part because of his admission of fault and the delays in the case which began in August 2024.
Rhys Mathieson in his playing days at the Brisbane Lions in 2023.Credit:Getty Images
Mathieson has been under provisional suspension for a breach of the doping code, via a positive test to a banned substance.
This masthead has contacted Mathieson for comment.
Mathieson, a tough midfielder who played 72 senior games for the Brisbane Lions before his delisting at the end of 2023, had been playing for the Wilston Grange Gorillas in the Queensland state league in 2024, the year he tested positive to a substance deemed performance-enhancing.
He has been provisionally suspended since late in 2024.
Mathieson playing footy in 2024.Credit:Instagram
While Mathieson was no longer playing in the AFL, he could still be tested and handled under the Australian football anti-doping code and his case handled by the AFL and SIA, the body formerly known as ASADA.
A source familiar with the Mathieson scenario said that the ex-Lion had tested positive to a substance that was deemed performance-enhancing in the latter period of 2024, when he played in the QAFL for Wilston Grange. As with all potential doping breaches, Mathieson was tested by SIA.
Three sources familiar with direct knowledge of the case said that Mathieson had chosen not to contest the case at either the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal or the National Sports Tribunal, which athletes can choose to attend to mount a defence.
Mathieson in the gym in 2025.Credit:Instagram
A source with direct knowledge of the case explained some of the reasons behind his sentence being reduced from four years - the ban typical for use of a PED - to three years.
One was that he had admitted to the breach.
Secondly, according to the source, the suspension was backdated to reflect that the matter stretched back more than a year, having first surfaced, via his positive test in August 2024.
Players found to have used PEDs can receive bans of up to four years, but they can reduce that sanction if they cooperate.
Rhys Mathieson during his Lions career. Credit:Getty Images
Mathieson played 16 games for Wilston Grange in 2024, including a final and was among the competition’s best performed, averaging more than 30 disposals. He has not played this year, while under provisional suspension, which also places restrictions on playing other sports.
Local leagues, such as the state leagues, are still subject to the same anti-doping rules as the AFL.
Loading
Unlike Melbourne’s Joel Smith, whose late 2023 positive for was the presence of cocaine on a match day, sources said Mathieson’s alleged breach of the doping code was for a substance that is banned in and outside of competition.
Mathieson, originally drafted from the Geelong Falcons, spent eight years with the Lions and became known as “the barometer” for his impact on his team’s performances. He did not make the Lions’ grand final team in 2023, before he was delisted from a powerful squad that won back to back flags in 2024 and this year.
Mathieson’s physical development, from a strong player, to a highly muscular powerful athlete during last year, was highlighted online, with Mathieson having posted photographs of his imposing muscle-bound build on social media.
He also hosts a podcast with ex-Lion teammate Mitch Robinson, the pair having interviewed Bulldog Jamarra Ugle-Hagan this year about his battles with mental health.
This masthead contacted Mathieson and forwarded him questions multiple times before revealing in August that a former AFL player had tested positive to a performance-enhancing substance, but did not receive a response, while the case was being navigated by his legal representative, the AFL and SIA. He was acted for by the AFL Players’ Association.
Loading
The AFLPA declined to provide a comment when asked for a response on Mathieson’s behalf.
Most recent anti-doping cases in the AFL have involved positive tests to illicit substances - such as cocaine - that are deemed performance-enhancing only on game day. Positive tests to substances that banned in all circumstances - such as human growth hormone, anabolic steriods, testosterone and certain peptides - have been rare in the AFL.
Collingwood pair Josh Thomas and Lachie Keeffe received two-year bans from 2015 after testing positive to PED Clenbuterol, having admitted the banned substance probably entered their bodies after taking illicit drugs in February.
Melbourne’s Smith was part of a long-running SIA investigation and received a lengthy ban of four years and three months, for a match-day positive on August 20, 2023 against Hawthorn, and for four separate rule violations, including trafficking or attempted trafficking of cocaine. He had been provisionally suspended since October 9 of 2023 following an in-competition positive test
WSPHU
2 Likes
Not exactly shocked.
Was pretty obvious he had jumped on the gear after he was delisted lol.
1 Like
3 Likes
Looks pretty natural to me.
I jest.
1 Like