Brisbane Lions believe Joe Daniher leaning towards AFL retirement
Brisbane’s hierarchy believe premiership forward Joe Daniher is leaning towards retiring from the AFL.
The Lions are letting Daniher enjoy premiership celebrations before asking the 30-year-old his intentions for next season.
Brisbane’s general manager of football Danny Daly says he doesn’t yet know if Daniher will continue playing.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“Fifty-fifty,” Daly told SEN radio on Tuesday.
“If you hear what people are talking about and the way he presented himself in the last couple of minutes (of the grand final), I would be almost thinking that he’s thinking of giving it away,” Daly said.
Daniher has remained tight-lipped on his future since the Lions downed Sydney by 60 points in Saturday’s grand final.
Speculation has swirled since the eve of Brisbane’s grand final win that Daniher is on the verge of quitting.
“My phone went berserk Friday night,” Daly said.
“To be fair, it wasn’t something that surprised me because you know what Joe’s like, he’s a different human being and always thinking different things.
“But it’s one of those ones where we will just let the dust settle, let him enjoy his celebrations.
“I have come to have a great relationship with Joe and I have needed to pick my times to ask him to do media.
“So I feel like I just need to know when the right time is to grab him and say: ‘Come on mate, what are we doing?’
“I am sure that will be towards the end of the week or early next week but we will see where it all ends.
“But we obviously want him to keep playing for our footy club.
“But we also appreciate what he wants to do in his life so we just need to pick the right time.”
Teammates of Daniher, who has played 96 games for the Lions since joining the club for the 2021 season after 108 games in eight seasons at Essendon, remain in the dark.
Veteran Dayne Zorko is among Lions players trying to convince Daniher to fulfill the final year of his contract next season.
“I have been trying to convince him ... we just keep saying: ‘Let’s run it back Joe, let’s run it back’,” Zorko said on Monday.
“We’re definitely coming for it (the 2025 premiership), you just want to get back there and you just want to keep doing it.”
