David King calls out Joe Daniher over 'selfish' act in Brisbane's AFL draw with Adelaide
Daniher's actions have been placed under the spotlight from the AFL great.
Brisbane Lions sharp-shooter Joe Daniher has been accused of being selfish by AFL great David King, with the dual premiership former Kangaroo singling out one particular incident in Sunday's draw with Adelaide. Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks and Brisbane counterpart Chris Fagan were both deflated after one of the best matches of the AFL season ended with both sides locked on 13.12 (90) and having to settle for two points.
The Lions skipped out to a game-high 18-point lead midway through the last quarter but the Crows rallied with four consecutive goals to steal a six-point advantage with five minutes remaining. The sea-sawing contest then saw Brisbane's Callum Ah Chee slot his fourth goal to level the scores with three and a half minutes remaining.
Lion Harry Sharp scored a behind to put the visitors one point ahead before Adelaide captain Jordan Dawson narrowly missed a 35-metre shot on the run with 96 seconds left. But King suggested the result could have been different if the Lions had played more selflessly. He took aim at Brisbane's senior players and especially Daniher, after highlighting a moment where the Brisbane big man decided to have a long-range shot at goal, rather than kicking to teammate Charlie Cameron in a much stronger position in front of goals.
The incident happened early in the contest and King said it set the tone for the rest of the match. Following Brisbane's disappointment at coughing up a healthy last quarter lead to draw with the Crows, King said “this result is on their senior players", before singling out Daniher for specific criticism.
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David King accuses Brisbane's Joe Daniher of selfish act
“He’s the man every time the ball comes to Joe. ‘Can I have a shot?’, is the first thought,” King said on Fox Footy's The First Crack on Sunday night. “This happens every week with Joe Daniher. The amount of times I’ve seen Charlie Cameron burned by Joe Daniher with that sort of kick. And look at Charlie, he knows.
“Does this hurt you? Well it does hurt you, because it creates a model that says: ‘Each to their own. We’re not going to have that old Geelong model of the unselfish score assist brand’. “If they were selfless, they win that game. But they’ve got one bloke in the forward line who’s a constant thorn in their side in close moments or big moments like this.”
The North Melbourne legend says the issue around Daniher is something Lions coach Fagan will need to address so that bad habits don't creep into Brisbane's games. “That’s a game that slipped through their fingers because one bloke wanted to be the man to the exception and exclusion of everyone else,” King added.
“I was really disappointed with some of their senior players late in the game. It’s a draw, so you’ve got to temper it. But they had opportunities to put that game to bed. This is one they’ve left on the table. Full credit to the Crows for rolling the dice and getting themselves back in. But this in my eyes is a big L for Brisbane.”
AFL coaches weigh into extra time debate after latest draw
The draw wasn't exactly beneficial to Adelaide or Brisbane, who remain in 12th and 13th on the AFL ladder, respectively. Both teams have five losses and a draw and are slipping off the finals pace. And while the AFL's second draw in the last three weeks has reignited talk about introducing extra time, it's not something either coach believes is necessary.
"I'm happy with the way that it is," Fagan said. "We wouldn't have had many petrol tickets left anyway given that last week we played a game when we're down to two blokes on the bench five minutes into the second quarter. My blokes wouldn't have had much left, so I'm pretty happy we didn't have to play extra time."
Nicks added: "It was interesting standing on the ground with Fages (Fagan) afterwards. Both of us could have done with a win at the moment. Is it a positive that we ended up with two points each? It would be an exciting thing to watch if it went to extra time or golden goal. But the game is a good game. We don't need to change the rules. We change too many rules."
with AAP
