Joe Daniher's career 'not over yet' as AFL legend makes huge call on retirement backflip

AFL great Gerard Healy says it would be in the best interest of the Brisbane Lions to keep some space in their salary cap for 2026 as he believes Joe Daniher could backflip on his decision to retire. The forward announced five days after winning the AFL premiership that he was walking away from the final year of his contract, leaving around $750,000 on the table.

The decision came after Daniher was instrumental in the Lions' staggering 60-point demolition of the Sydney Swans in the grand final. The forward kicked two goals in the victory and in a telling moment, Danhier roared to life after the second.

The forward is notoriously reserved with his celebrations, but the 30-year-old erupted in jubilant celebration after kicking his second in front of the Lions faithful. His teammates swamped him after the goal in a telling moment that the forward was set to walk away from the sport.

Daniher played 204 games and kicked a whopping 395 goals throughout his career. But Healy believes he still may kick a few more goals before he is fully done with the sport as he said he wouldn't be shocked to see the forward make a comeback in 2026.

Daniher's retirement came at the peak of his AFL career. In 2024 he was named in the 2024 All-Australian squad and played a vital role in Brisbane's 2024 AFL triumph. And Healy says when the forward realises the grass doesn’t stay greener post-retirement he will be knocking on Chris Fagan's door.

"I’m disappointed that Joe Daniher is leaving the game," Healy told SEN’s Sportsday. "I think Joe was playing the best footy of his career and he was stiff not to be All-Australian the last two years. I don’t think people have valued his role significantly enough as the forward-ruckman and I think that’s a role that should have been recognised and he was stiff to miss All-Australian.

"He went out on a huge high. Good luck to you, Joe, you’ve been fantastic, particularly for Brisbane. You were darn good at Essendon for a couple of years and to go out as a premiership player after being best on ground the previous year was a pretty high standard to leave the game in. It’s not over yet though, Joe. Have a spell for 12 months and then just maybe waltz back into the office of Chris Fagan and say ‘I’m back’.

"I would (keep that cap space open). Yep, it might be fanciful, but I’ve got a funny feeling Joe might have another think about it. The grass on the other side is green for a while, but it goes brown pretty quick."

Can Brisbane Lions go back-to-back in 2025?

On the back of a monumental win in the 2024 grand final many believe the Lions can go back-to-back. However, if Brisbane are to start a new dynasty they will need to buck a concerning recent trend. Three of the last four premiers have failed to make the finals the following year, and the only reigning champion to win a finals game the following season is Richmond in 2020.

They will have to overcome losing Daniher. In his place, the Lions have brought in Sam Day, who was delisted from Gold Coast at the end of last season. Day, 32, played 155 games across 14 seasons for the Suns as a foundation recruit but injuries have restricted him to only 18 games over the past four years.

And while he is hardly a like-for-like replacement, Healy believes the Lions can go back-to-back in 2025 even without Daniher. “I think Sam Day is alright. I don’t mind Day as a replacement,” he said.

“I think they’ll be able to reinvent the wheel. I don’t think they’ll lose a flag on a failure to replace Joe. Ultimately, all of you got to do is get the ball on the ground in that forward line, if they have a good run with injury.

“The role that is going to be difficult to replace is Joe in the ruck. Now, that suggests they might play the two ruckmen. Joe in the ruck freed him up mentally, took away a lot of the pressure he felt on himself and he still kicked 60-odd goals. He was a fine player in that role.”