BRISBANE Lions CEO Greg Swann says there is no need to panic about whether the club can retain talented midfielder James Aish beyond 2015.

 

Swann remains hopeful that the 18-year-old will commit to the Lions soon after Christmas but says all the club can do is create a positive environment that makes him want to stay.

 

Brisbane used selection No.7 to draft the South Australian in last year's NAB AFL Draft.

 

"We put an offer to him [and] we're hopeful that it will get done not long after Christmas," Swann told SEN on Tuesday. 

"But look, we know how it works, if it (signing an extension) gets delayed again, and gets delayed again people will start to get worried."

 

Aish's manager Liam Pickering met with the player's family during trade week and decided to delay making a decision until at least pre-season was up and running.

 

Swann said he was comfortable with the conversations he had with Pickering and was pleased that he indicated that Aish was enjoying his time at the club.

 

"It's up to us to make this environment a good place to play footy and live and so far so good and hopefully we get something done early in the new year," Swann said.

 

"At this stage we're not panicking. We'll just see how it goes."  

 

Swann said the successful trade period and the talent brought in during the 2013 NAB AFL Draft had created hope they were building towards a strong era.

 

He acknowledged that retaining players was always a challenge and that the club knew it needed to be winning games as well as having a strong player welfare program to keep players.

 

The Lions lost five players during last year's trade period for a variety of reasons, however have staged a strong turnaround under new coach Justin Leppitsch.