The Lions are losing their players:
http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-09-30/resign-or-enter-the-draft-lions-ultimatum-to-aish
...and they have been 'losing their players' for a few years now:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/departing-brisbane-lions-players-get-whack-on-twitter-from-former-teammates/story-fni5f4q3-1226746874466
The club seems to be reeling from a culture that is imbued with the ethos of the oldschool Jon Brown/Leigh Matthews/Michael Voss hard-on-you-to-get-the-best-out-of-you culture.
Only the world has changed, the players have changed, or, at least, the players are empowered now to change.
You can't run a club like the old days, like Tom Rockliff thinks he can run in the shadow of the man he took over from; Jon Brown commands enough respect to maybe hold it all together, but evidently, Tom struggles.
Not that he is the reason the culture up there is so bad, but he obviously is out of his depth considering the exodus under his reign.
Now, in the first article linked, the Lions are giving ultimatums through the great fossil; Leigh Matthews. Re-sign or its the draft for you, we won't trade you. We will keep our players through threat of uncertainty.
This is why the players are so hungry for more freedom and power over their own destinations - because of awfully run clubs like the Lions of today.
The AFL needs to step in and tell them to get their act together.