St Kilda Hall of Famer Leigh Montagna says Brisbane should embrace the potential departures of star duo Zac Bailey and Lachie Neale as a ‘Last Dance’ theme in the club’s quest for a three-peat.

Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.

Lions coach Chris Fagan this week conceded players moving cubs is a “fact of life” and said he simply wants to Bailey and Neale give their all while they’re still in Lions colours in seemingly the biggest hint yet that they’re facing the exit door.

Brisbane’s two highest-rated players this season, Bailey has been linked with a move to Adelaide on a lucrative deal worth as much as $10 million over seven years, while Neale is being pursued by multiple clubs including Collingwood and St Kilda.

Speaking on Fox Footy’s AFL 360 on Tuesday night, Montagna says he thinks it’s “real” that the premiership pair are on their way out of Brisbane.

Though Montagna suggested Fagan should try and use it to fuel the club to more silverware.

“I think Chris Fagan should actually be leaning in on this. I would like to see Chris Fagan use it as a fuel, almost use it as ‘The Last Dance’ scenario,” the Saints great said.

“Make no mistake, these are two of the best players in the competition. So it is going to be a challenge, whatever it looks like, going forward.

De Goey chasing multi-year deal | 01:25

“We know Chris Fagan is a coach that likes to have themes.

“I just wonder whether they can lean in on the situation of two of their very best players moving on at the end of the year and say: ‘Right, let’s do it one more time. Let’s make this The Last Dance’.

“That’s not to say they can’t win again, but there’s no guarantees. It’s going to become more challenging for the Brisbane Lions the longer this dynasty goes and particularly the more they lose some of their best players.

“I think they should embrace it internally, they don’t have to do it externally.

“I think you go: ‘Righto, here’s our last crack with this group. Dayne Zorko is going to get another year older, probably got one more to go. Let’s go and do it one more time and send these boys out. And we’ve completed the dynasty’.”

St Kilda Hall of Famer Leigh Montagna has called for Brisbane to embrace the potential departures of star duo Zac Bailey and Lachie Neale as a ‘Last Dance’ theme in the club’s quest for a three-peat.Source: FOX SPORTS

It’s believed Bailey, a restricted free agent in his prime at 26 years of age, could be leaving as much as $3.5 million on the table if he were to stay at Brisbane.

Meanwhile, reports have indicated that dual Brownlow medallist Neale, an unrestricted free agent who turns 34 next year, could secure a deal from Collingwood worth as much as $3 million over three years.

It shows how much the AFL player market has boomed to make it harder than ever before for dynasty sides to stay together, compared to previous golden runs this century like at Hawthorn and Geelong

“It’s a rather strange confluence of events,” AFL 360 co-host Gerard Whateley added.

“I sort of get Zac Bailey’s leaving at the peak of their powers and clearly the biggest contract on offer to him. But it’s not a shabby contract to be had at the Lions.

“I wonder as each generation moves through, the previous generations have gone: ‘No, let’s all stay and run it as far as we can’. That looks like it’s shifted since the Hawthorn days, for instance, to now.

“And Lachie’s is a different circumstance. The weirdest part of this is he’s looking at the biggest contracts of his career.

“Whether he’s got three years left in him, he’s going to get three years, and the first two are going to be the most lucrative of his career, wherever he goes.”

Hawks in danger of losing key forward? | 03:59

Montagna suggested Neale’s looming payday reflects the “fallacy about contracts” and how it’s all about “how much a club is prepared to pay you”.

“It’s like buying a house, how much someone wants the house is what it’s worth,” he said.

“Right now there are clubs that want Lachie Neale. If you’ve got money there, you might as well spend it.”

The dual All-Australian also highlighted the huge gap in contract offers compared to his playing days a decade ago.

“With Zac Bailey, I think it’s continuing to evolve, because the money is getting bigger,” Montagna continued.

“When I was still playing or the Hawthorn days, it was a couple of thousand difference and you go: ‘You know what, it’s worth staying’.

“Now we’re talking about $500,000-a-year difference. That is significant over the length of contracts players are now getting. I can understand why there’s more movement.

“It’s going to be a blow for the Brisbane Lions. But they’ve still got plenty of footy left this year to send them out on a good note and win that three-peat.”