Chris Fagan in startling Joe Daniher revelation as Brisbane Lions target marquee AFL forward
Fagan says Joe Daniher would have retired after the 2023 season if they had beaten Collingwood in the grand final.
Chris Fagan revealed Joe Daniher has been contemplating retirement for some time. The Lions veteran walked away from the final year of his contract just days after winning the AFL premiership.
The news came after Daniher was instrumental in the Lions' staggering 60-point demolition of the Sydney Swans in the grand final. The forward slotted two goals in the win but it was his second goal that made many fans believe he was set to call time on his career. Daniher, who is usually reserved with his celebrations, jumped into the air and pumped his fists in celebration after scoring in the fourth quarter as his teammates swamped him in celebration.
And five days after lifting the AFL premiership trophy, Daniher has opted to forego the final year of his contract to call time on his career. But Brisbane coach Fagan revealed Daniher was actually ready to walk away from the game last year and would have done so if they had won the 2023 premiership.
The Lions coach said Daniher informed him that he felt he was ready to give it away but the devastating loss to Collingwood in last year's grand final convinced him to have one final crack at winning a flag in 2024 - a decision he is sure to be glad he made as the Lions roared to a 60-year-point victory over the Swans.
"Last year after the Grand Final Joey gave me a call and said, ‘Can we have a meeting?’,” Fagan said at Brisbane's Merrett-Murray Medal best and fairest count. "So I caught up with him and he said to me, ‘You know, if we had won this week I was going to retire’. I thought, ‘Oh geez, I hope he’s not going to retire’.
“But he said, ‘I’m going to play for one more year and I hope we can win a premiership’. I’m so pleased that that’s happened Joey, that you’ve got to go out on the back of winning a premiership. You’ve given us so many wonderful moments and crazy moments and head-scratching moments, but we’ll never forget you mate, you’ve been so good for our footy club.”
Tom Morris reveals five to ten players new Daniher was retiring
Channel 9 journalist Tom Morris revealed on SEN on Friday that several of Daniher's Lions teammates were aware that the 2024 Grand Final would be his last game, win or lose. "Five to 10 senior Brisbane Lions players knew for a fact that the Grand Final would be his last game," Morris added.
"The whole group didn’t know, but it didn’t come as a shock to the rest of them either. The club still tried to talk him around this week. ‘Are you sure? Would you like to go again next year?’. In the end, he just said, ‘I can’t be here if I’m not fully invested and I won’t be fully invested, and I’ll go out on a high’.”
The forward bows out of footy after 204 games (108 for Essendon, 96 for Brisbane) and 395 goals (191 for Essendon, 204 for Brisbane). He also won a best and fairest at Essendon and was a six-time leading goal kicker - four times at Essendon and twice at Brisbane - across 12 seasons.
RELATED:
Sydney Swans boss makes telling call amid John Longmire speculation
Leigh Matthews rips AFL move that dudded Swans in grand final
Brisbane set sights on major signing as Daniher's replacement
And the Lions are set to waste little time in replacing their marquee forward with another, with football boss Danny Daly revealing the club has identified several key forward targets in the upcoming trade window. "There’s been a bit of work done by (list boss) Dom Ambrogio in the last few months, basically as a ‘what if?': Daly told AFL Trade Radio on Friday.
"It’s hard to get key forwards ... I’m sure that there’ll be a lot of discussions between Dom and other clubs and other managers about some potential key forwards that are out there. They’re hard to get, and most of the really good ones are in contract, so we might have to make do with what we’ve got on our list. We’ve got young Henry Smith coming through and Logan Morris played some good footy this year ... but we’ll be pretty active in trying to see what’s out there and hopefully trying to bring someone into the club that can replace (Daniher) to the best of their ability."
Daly said the Lions have set their sights on some of the biggest names in the game such as Richmond's Tom Lynch, Carlton's Harry McKay, St Kilda's Max King and Gold Coast's Ben King and said they will attempt to convince the above players to make the switch to Brisbane, however, have identified other targets as well.
"I think you’ve got to do your due diligence as a football club, and we’re pretty keen to go again ... so if you want to do that as a footy club, you’ve got to be right on top of your game and make sure you exhaust all avenues to keep making your team and your list better. So, 100 per cent we’ll be doing that," Daly said.
"If they’re around and they’re interested and clubs are interested in talking to us about those sorts of guys (McKay, McKay, King), 100 per cent. Those sorts of guys are contracted, so it’s going to be pretty hard to try and manipulate something with one of those (players), but you never know, do you? Unless you ask the question."
