Brisbane is bravely claiming its golden era is not at an end, but the ageing Lions are likely to undergo a significant off-season overhaul after the 40-point AFL grand final defeat to Port Adelaide.

Already Alastair Lynch and Craig McRae have retired, and other integral members of the team that won a premiership hat-trick from 2001-03 are set to follow, willingly or otherwise.

Shaun Hart is keen to eke out one more year, but he and other out-of-contract veterans Martin Pike and Darryl White will be closely scrutinised ahead of this year's trading period and draft.

Club president Graham Downie said retirements and consequent room under the salary cap would aid the club in re-signing out-of-contract players Clark Keating, Blake Caracella, Tim Notting, Richard Hadley, Ash McGrath and boom youngsters Jared Brennan and Anthony Corrie.

"We'd expect to recontract most of our players," Downie said.

"It'll be difficult because we've got salary cap problems, but there may be retirements that may ease the pressure."

The Lions were not prepared to throw the baby out with the bathwater, insisting they still had a squad that could mount a premiership challenge next season.

"We've had the luxury of thinking short-term over the past few years but when you've got a nucleus of players like this you're not going to change your attitude in a hurry," Downie said.

"Certainly we need to bring some new talent through but you saw some of those players emerge this year and you'd imagine they'd develop further next year."

Lions coach Leigh Matthews learned from his own retirement at Hawthorn in 1985 that the Lions were not about to slide down the ladder because of one loss and a few retirements.

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