It isn’t just Brisbane Lions fans who are feeling an air of excitement surrounding the Club ahead of 2015, with expert AFL commentator Rohan Connolly bullish about the side’s prospects for the season.

During his pre-season assessments with Melbourne radio station SEN on Monday, Connolly said the Lions were certainly a team on the rise, and could prove a legitimate challenger for the Final this season.

“I reckon if you want a real smoky to jump into the eight, they could be your team,” Connolly said.

Connolly’s rational was largely based on the Club bolstering its midfield brigade over the off-season with a number of recruiting coups, headlined by the acquisition of former Collingwood best and fairest, Dayne Beams.

“These are massive ‘ins’ – (Dayne) Beams, (Allen) Christensen, and even (Mitch) Robinson. And then I’m calling these guys ‘ins’ – (Daniel) Rich, wasn’t there at all last year, and (Matthew Leuenberger), injured for most of the season,” he said.

“That’s going to improve any side considerably.

“The silk is all in the midfield, there’s no doubt about that. Great ruck duo in Leuenberger and Stefan Martin, but have a look at who they are hitting the ball to – Beams, Christensen, (Tom) Rockliff, (Jack) Redden, Rich, (Pearce) Hanley, (Dayne) Zorko, Robinson.

“And there’s a couple I haven’t mentioned in (Lewy) Taylor, who won the Rising Star, and (James) Aish, who had a really good first year. So they’ve got midfield depth to spare.”

Connolly did, however, identify that the Lions will find the going tough both up forward and down back, particularly following the departures of Jonathan Brown and Joel Patfull.

“Their problem is at either end (of the ground),” Connolly said.

“There’s a lot of reliance of (Daniel) Merrett, who will go back (to defence), and the likes of (Justin) Clarke and (Darcy) Gardiner – who have both shown a bit – are going to have to go to another level.

“They ranked 16th for points for in 2014, so these are the guys who are going to have to develop very quickly – (Michael) Close, (Daniel) McStay, and (Jono) Freeman. They’re going to have step up probably more so than you’d expect of second year players at other clubs.”