Joe Daniher's 'appalling' act comes to light amid dramas at Brisbane Lions

Brisbane Lions forward Joe Daniher has been called out over his 'appalling' actions in which he blasted teammate Eric Hipwood for not giving him the ball, before committing the same act himself. The Lions have made a slow start to the 2023 AFL season, sitting 14th after three games with a 1-2 record.

They were beaten by the Western Bulldogs in round three by 14 points, with Daniher's performance copping criticism. The forward went goalless in the loss, only managing to contribute four behinds.

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However vision aired on Channel 9 on Monday night appears to suggest there may be bigger problems than just Daniher's goal-kicking, after he was seen blazing away from outside the 50m arc despite Charlie Cameron being unmarked in the square. Instead of trying to find his teammate, Daniher went for goal and kicked a behind.

The decision was particularly noteworthy considering a spray he gave Hipwood the week before after Hipwood decided against kicking to Daniher when he was one-on-one with a smaller defender in the square. Daniher could be seen screaming at Hipwood to send him the ball, raising his arms in the air in frustration after his teammate decided to go back and take a set shot instead.

Daniher could then be seen having words with Hipwood during a break in play, appearing to slam him for not passing. Discussing the vision on Monday night, journalist Caroline Wilson described it as "appalling".

Brisbane coach Chris Fagan publicly criticised Daniher in his post-match press conference, saying: "Obviously we’ll review the game and talk about missed opportunities. And that will be part of the feedback that comes his way”.

Wilson said of Fagan's comments: “That’s the strongest he’s ever been publicly. They just wrap their arms around him every time. I can’t understand it.”

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Essendon great Matthew Lloyd called out Daniher's attitude, saying: “With his effort and second efforts or lack of, I wonder how hard Chris has been on him. The attitude to stop, not chase, when you’ve been around for 10 years, I wonder how hard they’ve been on him in that situation.

“I see the killer instinct in Jeremy Cameron to run down and chase players. The premiership type players. The premiership type players that get to the dais and win premierships as key forwards. He’s not looking like one at the moment after all this time with what he’s like when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands.”

And Port Adelaide 300-gamer Kane Cornes said the incident with Daniher and Cameron suggests the former "would be a frustrating teammate to play with". He added: “A week ago this is him demanding the ball from Hipwood. You can see him in the goal square demanding it. That body language isn’t good as a teammate."

On Fox Footy, Lions champion Jonathan Brown made the shock declaration that the club can't win a flag with Daniher and Hipwood in the forward line. “Three contested marks between Hipwood and Daniher for the year, that’s a terrible return,” Brown said.

“They’re starting to see Dan McStay has been missed. He seemed to be the bullocking, straight-down-the-line type forward that was able to contest and compete.

"Any key forward needs to be reliable and predictable to his teammates and I’m not seeing (that) in Daniher and Hipwood at the moment. That’s a problem for the Brisbane Lions and they’ve got to sort it out.”

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