Lions’ message to Joe: ‘Don’t go’

“Let’s run it back Joe.”

That’s been the message from triumphant Brisbane players to their Lions teammate Joe Daniher during the club’s AFL premiership celebrations since Saturday’s grand final thrashing of the Sydney Swans.

Rumours have circulated since last week that the MCG decider would be the final game of Daniher’s career and the 30-year-old star forward would retire despite having a season remaining on his Brisbane contract.

Daniher hasn’t addressed the matter publicly since Brisbane’s win, but his teammates have been doing their best to convince him to play again next season when the Lions will chase a third successive grand final appearance and back-to-back flags.

“I’ve been trying to convince him in the last 24 hours,” Lions veteran Dayne Zorko told the SEQ Breakfast show on Monday.

“We just keep saying `let’s run it back Joe, let’s run it back’.

“We’re definitely coming for it (the 2025 grand final and premiership).
“You just want to get back there and you just want to keep doing it.”

After Brisbane’s 60-point win on Saturday, Daniher told Channel 7: “It was a beautiful feeling, mate, something I’ll look back on for sure.

“To have the game done in the last quarter and be able to enjoy it with your teammates was something special.”

Zorko said Brisbane’s grand final preparations had been “absolutely spot on”.

In contrast, the Swans seemingly weren’t as prepared.

“There were whispers that they were a little bit tense, that they just weren’t as relaxed and as calm as what we were,” Zorko said.

“I knew we were going to be on, but to win by that margin was a little bit of a surprise, but I certainly knew that this group was certainly capable of that … we broke them.”

Despite having given up the captaincy at the start of last season, a “grateful” Zorko was given the chance to lift the premiership cup with Brisbane’s co-captains Lachie Neale and Harris Andrews and coach Chris Fagan.

“That was a really special moment,” 35-year-old Zorko said.

“That was selfishly one of the driving factors for me not wanting to give it (the captaincy) up because I wanted to be on that stage on the last Saturday in September holding up the cup.

“He (Fagan) promised me then and there that `when we do get there mate, you’ll be the first one up there’.

“He was true to his words two years later. I’d actually totally forgotten about it.

“At the time on Saturday, I was like `don’t be silly, you guys do it, it’s all good, I’m just so happy’, but that’s a really special memory and I’m so grateful for that.”