BRISBANE has turned itself from a place players want to leave to a club stars want to join. But the most significant part about this trade and free agency flip is that the Lions aren't just focusing on Queenslanders.

Instead, and with Joe Daniher the latest in the growing line, Brisbane continues to convince non-Queensland talents to relocate to the sunshine state.

TRADE PERIOD STATE OF PLAY Who's going, who's undecided

Daniher's decision to exercise his free agency rights and nominate Brisbane as his new home continues a trend that the club has established under list boss Dom Ambrogio, coach Chris Fagan, football manager David Noble, chief executive Greg Swann and recruiting manager Stephen Conole.

If the Lions can get Daniher across the line it would be the fourth straight off-season they have traded in (or accrued via free agency) a non-Queenslander. A mix of personnel, climate, coaches, players and environment have been credited for the change in dynamic which has thrust Brisbane into premiership contention.

WHO'S MOVING? All the latest trade and contract news

In 2017 it was Hawthorn great Luke Hodge, who called off his retirement with the Hawks to take up a stellar two-year stint with the Lions.

That season the Lions also landed small forward ace Charlie Cameron, who was lured out of Adelaide on a lucrative long-term deal after playing in the Crows' Grand Final side that season.

'BIG-TIME PLAYERS STAND UP' The night a star was born

Cameron had been drafted to the Crows from Western Australia, where his brother Jarrod was drafted to West Coast at the end of 2018, but he had also spent time in his youth growing up in Queensland and going to school there.

The following year was Brisbane's big bang.

With a year to go on his contract at Fremantle, gun midfielder Lachie Neale left the fishbowl of Perth to head to relative anonymity in Queensland and join the Lions.

Even Neale didn't expect the club's rise to have been quite as swift, although his form has been a huge element of Brisbane's success. On Sunday, he is the raging favourite to become the first Lion since Simon Black in 2002 to win the Brownlow Medal.

BROWNLOW PREDICTOR Every round, all the votes

Fagan was a significant part of Brisbane's sell to Neale, and the gun on-baller, who has an interest in coaching post-footy, was buoyed by the ability to learn off the Lions mentor.

Neale grew up in South Australia alongside Lincoln McCarthy, who also joined Brisbane at the end of 2018 after an injury-riddled run at the Cats, while West Australian Marcus Adams also took up a contract offer at the Lions after leaving the Bulldogs that season.

Jarryd Lyons also came after the 2018 season as a delisted free agent from the Suns. Lyons had links in Brisbane with his younger brother Corey already at the club, but was originally from Victoria.

Last year the Lions continued their recruiting quest, snatching Callum Ah Chee from crosstown rivals Gold Coast.

Ah Chee was settled in Queensland with his girlfriend and property in the state, but he also had a draw back to Western Australia, from where he hails and was a top-10 pick in 2015 and where his brother Brendon plays for the Eagles.

The Lions last year also picked up Tasmanian and former Hawk Grant Birchall as an unrestricted free agent, and Adelaide's Cam Ellis-Yolman under the same rules. Ellis-Yolmen was drafted originally from South Australia.

If the Lions can land Daniher as a free agent or in a trade deal with the Bombers – clearly the free agency option is most preferred by Brisbane – it would mean the Lions' past 10 rival recruits since the start of 2017 have come from outside Queensland (including Cameron).

WHO'S LEAVING? Your club's retirements and delistings

It is an important shift from the 'Go-home five' days of 2013, when they lost five young players in one horror trade period, and the following season, when Queenslander Dayne Beams crossed from Collingwood to be closer to his family.

And as the Lions prepare for Saturday night's preliminary final clash with Geelong in their bid to book a spot at next week's Gabba Grand Final, the recruits will make up more than a third of the line-up. There aren't too many starker examples of a club's fortunes spinning as effectively.