Lions coy on Daniher’s future after grand final win
Oliver Caffrey and Anna Harrington |
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has refused to buy into swirling speculation star forward Joe Daniher may have played his last game in the Lions’ AFL grand final victory.
Aged just 30, the reclusive Daniher is weighing up his future in the game, despite being arguably still at the peak of his powers and having played an integral role in the Lions’ stunning September run to the premiership.
The media-shy Daniher lives in northern NSW, a two-hour drive, one way, from the Lions’ training base at Springfield.
Daniher’s family were shown several times on the television broadcast during the thumping grand final win against Sydney looking emotional in the crowd.
His second goal was the last of Brisbane’s 18 in the decider, with Daniher giving an uncharacteristic exuberant fist pump to the crowd before being swamped by teammates.
News filtered out about Daniher’s potential retirement on Friday night, less than 24 hours before the grand final.
Fagan was tight-lipped on Daniher’s future after he joined the legendary Leigh Matthews as a Lions premiership coach.
“I heard someone mention that to me when I got interviewed just after the game, and that’s the first I’ve heard of it,” Fagan said.
“I don’t know whether there’s any truth in it or not.
“I guess if there is all you’ll find out at some point, but I certainly don’t know anything about it at the moment.”
Daniher spearheaded Brisbane to an extraordinary semi-final win against GWS, kicking the final two goals of the game as the Lions stormed home from 44 points down to record the equal second biggest finals comeback in VFL/AFL history.
Although he went goal-less in the Lions’ preliminary final win against Geelong, Daniher played an important role in the ruck after Brisbane’s No.1 big man Oscar McInerney was subbed off with a shoulder injury.
If not for inaccuracy – he kicked 2.4 against the Swans – Daniher could have won the Norm Smith Medal on Saturday.
Daniher has played 204 games and kicked 395 goals since debuting for Essendon in 2013.
After playing 108 games for the Bombers, Daniher requested a trade to Brisbane during the 2020 off-season.
Fellow star Lions forward Charlie Cameron was also unsure what the future held for Daniher.
“We’ll enjoy the moments together,” Cameron said.
“It’s been very special to play with Joe for the last four years now, he’s brought so much to our footy club.”
Lions forward Callum Ah Chee hailed Daniher as “one of the greatest human beings you could probably ever meet”.
“He’s one that doesn’t really like to listen to the noise, he sort of stays away,” Ah Chee told AAP.
“To be able to embrace him and to play football with him has been so special.”
AAP