Daniher shows critics ‘how he rolls’ in Lions win

Murray Wenzel | April 7, 2023

Joe Daniher has a simple way of handling public criticism of his AFL form.

He just doesn’t watch, or listen.

The Brisbane tall forward was a lightning rod for a backlash after a flat loss to Western Bulldogs last Thursday.

Coach Chris Fagan even labelled it “pick on Joey Daniher week”, although he admitted his workrate needed to lift in their return to the Gabba on Thursday against Collingwood.

And it did, Daniher booting two goals but, more importantly, crashing packs to create for small forwards Cam Rayner (four goals) and Charlie Cameron (six).

He finished with 20 disposals as the Lions won by 33 points – 18.8 (116) to 11.17 (83) – to end the Magpies’ unbeaten season.

“It’s always better when you get the contest, because the ball hits the deck and there’s chaos everywhere, and Charlie was the beneficiary tonight, so was Cam Rayner,” coach Chris Fagan said.

“The contest they provided was fantastic and it was a really good response to criticism received during the week.

“Joey would never know there was any talk about him. He doesn’t watch the TV; he doesn’t listen to the media … that’s just how Joey rolls. 

“The conversation was more between him and I. He was really disappointed with his game last week, there was probably no-one more so in the club than himself, so his performance tonight was on the back of his own chastisement of himself.”

Brisbane left Darcy Fort out of the side given injuries to rivals Mason Cox and Darcy Cameron left the Magpies without a specialist ruckman.

It meant Daniher spent time in the ruck.

“He’s such a good around the ground player, and sometimes it helps him get into the game,” Fagan said of the tactic.

“I felt like last year we were probably playing our best footy when Joey was in the ruck. 

“I felt sorry (for Fort) that we had to drop him, but it just didn’t make any sense to play him tonight when Collingwood didn’t have a recognised ruckman.”