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Retired Joe Daniher (2020-2024)

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Hugh beauty! McCluggage's stunner see Lions past Dees

Only Joe could do that

On a frustrating night for Joe Daniher, he still found a way to have an impact – in a way only he could. As the Lions streamed forward in the third quarter Daniher looked like taking an uncontested mark about 40m out. However, he dropped it, then tripped over, and with two teammates heading towards goal unattended, the lanky full-forward got to his feet and kicked it off the ground – and watched it dribble through. Unintentional as it was, it was an unforgettable moment all the same.
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www.lions.com.au

This is My Journey - Joe Daniher's 200th Game

Joe Daniher will run out for game 200 this weekend as the Lions play his old club, the Bombers. The tall forward opens up about his journey to Brisbane and his continued desire to learn
www.lions.com.au www.lions.com.au
 
Comedy, drama, reality: Why the Joe Show is like no other

JDaniher.jpg


ONLY one player in the AFL lives in a different state to the one he plays in.

The same player is just as likely to kick a goal from 65m as he is to miss one from 25m.

He's taken a Mark of the Year and won an elimination final off his own boot.

He provides highlights almost every week and always gives paying spectators and television viewers something to remember – good, not-so-good, bizarre - and all with a smile.

He divides opinions.

That man is Joe Daniher.

Preparing to play his 200th game on Saturday night against former club Essendon, the Brisbane full-forward has kept a typically low profile this week.

Aside from a small chat with the club's media team, the 30-year-old has done nothing outside the ordinary to discuss his milestone.

It's the way he has always liked it, and part of the reason mystique still surrounds him 12 seasons into his career.

From the moment he entered the AFL system, 'The Joe Show' has been anything but conventional.

The son of Anthony, Daniher went to the Bombers amidst a swarm of fanfare in late 2012 via the father-son rule to join brother Darcy at Windy Hill.

His first pre-season uncovered Essendon's 'supplements saga' that pitchforked the club into a hellish few seasons.

There were glimpses of his prodigious talent through those first few years, with it all coming together in 2017 when Daniher won the Crichton Medal, an Anzac Medal, an All-Australian jacket and the Mark of the Year for his towering speccy against St Kilda.

Doing things few others could became his calling card.

In the 2019 Anzac Day match against Collingwood, he launched a drop punt from 65m after the half-time siren to lift the entire MCG (the red and black section at least).

The following year, in the midst of the strange, COVID-19-impacted 2020 season, Daniher would be criticised for sitting on the Gabba fence behind the goals as he watched teammate Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti take a set shot.

Just months later he would ink a deal with Brisbane to make that same venue his new home. He'd wanted out of the hustle and bustle of Melbourne for a while, with many thinking he'd get to Sydney in 2019.

Living in northern New South Wales – a two-hour drive from both the Gabba and the club's Springfield training base – Daniher is happiest away from the limelight.

He has no television and simply uses an iPad to watch movies.

It's a recipe that is working, with Daniher's football flourishing at the Lions.

In almost four seasons at Brisbane, he has kicked 195 goals from 91 games, surpassing his 191 from 108 with Essendon.

His quirky nature has endeared him to both teammates and supporters.

Whether he's running around the guard of honour that greets players as they come on to the field, or listening to the song from Disney movie Frozen, "Let It Go", after he kicks a goal at the Gabba, Daniher does things his way.

And invariably, you just have to smile.

In the opening round of the 2021 season, he took a spectacular mark 15m from goal, then, still on the ground, handballed to nearby Nakia Cockatoo just as the half-time siren sounded, spurning the chance of a goal.

Bombers fans will remember a similar incident in 2018 when he took a towering grab against the Western Bulldogs close to goal, only to be followed by an errant handpass to Josh Green, who was immediately swarmed.

As recently as this week, Daniher has been labelled selfish following some poor decisions against Collingwood last Saturday where he could have passed to Charlie Cameron, rather than taking other options.

"He divides opinions, Joey, but what I do know about him is he has a good heart, and he always puts the team first," coach Chris Fagan said.

"When he makes some of those mistakes that everybody makes comment on, it usually comes from a good place and he's just trying to help the team, and every now and then he gets it wrong, as do a lot of players.

"He seems to pay a larger price for that than some.

"I try to remain even and level with him and I think he appreciates that. He's helped us win a lot of games."

Fagan's last comment is pertinent. Amidst the odd gaffe, his streaky goalkicking and unintentional comedy, Daniher's brilliance is often overlooked.

And make no mistake, he's a big-game player.

Richmond will remember his goal in the dying seconds of the 2022 elimination final – his third of the second half – that sunk its season.

He kicked five goals in a qualifying final win over Port Adelaide last year, two in the preliminary final against Carlton and then was arguably Brisbane's best player in the Grand Final loss to Collingwood.

Last week is a perfect example of his best and worst in one game.

He kicked 4.2 against the Magpies, but it's the mistakes that are highlighted. If he kicks his fifth with six minutes to go, Brisbane likely wins, and Daniher is being discussed as the match-winner in a pressure-cooker environment.

He missed – and deserved to be critiqued for it – and suddenly the negatives are outweighing the positives externally.

Perhaps no one plays sums up Daniher better than his goal against Melbourne earlier this season.

All alone 40m from goal, he drops an uncontested chest mark, trips over his own feet, gets up to kick the ball off the ground towards unmarked teammate Kai Lohmann, yet somehow the Sherrin seemingly has eyes and goes through for a goal.

As a listener of the The Roar Deal podcast summised, Daniher is a 50-50 chance to kick a goal from almost anywhere on the field, whether it be top of the goalsquare or inside the centre square.

He's brilliant, can make mistakes, is usually thinking of his teammates first, is a match-winner, and above all else, an entertainer.

Keep being you, Joe.
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McIvor said:


Paywalled. Anyone able to post the story?
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What makes big Joe Daniher tick? The real life of football’s biggest character​

ByPeter Ryan​

September 27, 2024 — 11.30am
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Football needs big characters and in Joe Daniher they found a 200-centimetre classic.
The son of a former Bomber and Swan, Anthony – with three famous footballing uncles Terry, Neale and Chris – Joe was named after the bushranger Joe Byrne, a member of the Kelly gang. His older brother, Ned, has naming rights.
Joe Daniher celebrates the semi-final win over GWS with Lachie Neale.

Joe Daniher celebrates the semi-final win over GWS with Lachie Neale.Credit:Getty Images
Unlike Byrne, whose makeshift armour didn’t save him, the lanky Daniher takes a unique blend to his battles – a mix that can be infuriating and inspiring, topped off by the art of surprise.
That surprise factor was never more evident than in the Lions’ come-from-behind semi-final win over the Giants. He booted the final two goals – an unlikely curler from the boundary, followed by a contested mark and pressure-packed set shot.

Only an hour earlier he had called for the ball in a wild flight of fancy, thinking he could kick a goal around his body from outside 50 metres. In reality, he deposited the Sherrin out of bounds on the full. Those cameos were pure Daniher, the good-to-great moments far outweighing the head scratchers nowadays.
“What you see is what you get with Joe,” teammate Dayne Zorko said.
Joe Daniher walks through Yarra Park on his way to training at Punt Road Oval ahead of the grand final.

Joe Daniher walks through Yarra Park on his way to training at Punt Road Oval ahead of the grand final.Credit:photograph by Chris Hopkins
Lions board member and AFL Legend Leigh Matthews told Nine that Chris Fagan coached Daniher well, understanding he was an instinctive player who could reach great heights while confounding him occasionally.
The trick, Matthews said, was to emphasise his strengths and remove any concern about making mistakes.

Daniher is media shy and leaves next to no footprint; his public utterances are rare and any insight into his private world even rarer.
There’s no sign of him on social media. He loves movies, but doesn’t have a TV in his home (he does have an iPad to get his cinema fix). He has always been a keen music fan with broad tastes.
Growing up in Melbourne and carrying the famous Daniher name has possibly made him keen to protect his privacy. Or perhaps the harsh reality of being an AFL footballer – which Essendon players have felt more than most through the past decade – skewed him in that direction.
Daniher lives in relative obscurity in the northern NSW town of Ocean Shores, a two-hour drive from the Gabba, with his partner Adelle and two children Maeve and Raf.

“Hope you enjoy a bit of time in the car, big fella,” his skipper Harris Andrews quipped when he heard the star forward was settling over the border.
He does. The drive gives him plenty of time to listen to an array of podcasts, which his teammate Ryan Lester says gives Daniher an oversized understanding of the chaos and drama that is American politics.
Joe Daniher is all smiles after scoring.

Joe Daniher is all smiles after scoring.Credit:Getty Images
“I try to learn a bit off him,” Lester said. He is not the only one. Other friends describe Daniher as a progressive thinker who has taught them plenty about key social issues. His teammates adore him, and he adores them too.
“I love that guy,” dual Brownlow medallist Lachie Neale said. “His secret to success is having a happy life outside of football, and that is something I have learned off him and a lot of guys have, too. He does his prep and his homework on the opposition, but he doesn’t watch footy and has a great balance of family and footy.”

Those outside the bubble find it easy to paint a cartoonish picture of Daniher. A player without a care in the world who takes that attitude on to the football field – what will be, will be.
But to those who know him best, that picture would only represent a part of big Joe. To them, he is a normal 30-year-old dad with good values and a job he enjoys. His Ocean Shores home allows him to maximise proximity to the beach and the bush while balancing time for family and his commitment to the game.

His switch to the Lions in 2021, after 108 games with the Bombers, made that life happen. His decision to leave Essendon, where his extended family’s roots run deep, was courageous – and it allowed Daniher to become the best player he can be.
“I enjoy the challenge that is playing AFL football and within that trying to continue to be myself and be really comfortable with who I am in that space,” Daniher said in a 2018 interview with the AFL Players Association.

“I think it is important. To play your best footy, you have to be comfortable with who you are.”
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He is comfortable with who he is, and importantly his club is more than comfortable with him. Midway through this year, part of Daniher’s weekly routine became joining Lester, Zorko, Andrews and Josh Dunkley for a coffee at Total Fusion in Springfield. The conversation started with discussions about whether it might be time to start introducing youth. Then it turned to winning a flag.
“As a leader I have been able to lean on him for advice [and] perspective,” Andrews said. “We’re different blokes in the sense we probably think things through a bit differently, but we are both just hungry to achieve team success.”
No one can point to specific advice Joe has given, but they say he has shown by example that a prescribed way of living is not a prerequisite to playing good football.

“Joey is so special,” Dunkley said. “The way he thinks about the game … it is not just the on-field stuff, it’s the off-field stuff as well. The way that he goes about his work and cares for the group is incredible.”
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That care was evident in the preliminary final when he approached assistant coach Cameron Bruce at a break and demanded to move into the ruck as he saw a shoulder injury causing his teammate Oscar McInerney so much pain. “He doesn’t love the ruckwork, but he knew he had to do it,” Zorko said.
That call was just one example of Daniher’s love of what he once described as “the pure side of the game, a contest between two teams”.
That competitive spirit was first evident to recruiters and his peers when he went head-to-head with Brodie Grundy at an AIS-AFL Academy training session in the small Italian town of Gavirate in 2012.

The two tall, free-spirited teenagers fought with a fury to win the Sherrin. It was a battle few watching from the sidelines will forget. AFL talent guru Kevin Sheehan said it was unforgettable: “Their determination to win the ball, athleticism, courage and absolutely going on hands and knees after the thing to win it back.”
Daniher and Grundy remain mates, their friendship forged on that European trip. Thirteen years later they play on opposing sides at the MCG on Saturday, and are likely to face off regularly in a re-run of that time in Italy. Daniher is sure to spend some time in the ruck, particularly in the absence of McInerney.
Sydney Swan Brodie Grundy posted this image of himself and Brisbane Lions forward Joe Daniher from 2011 to social media. The pair will meet in the AFL grand final this weekend.

Sydney Swan Brodie Grundy posted this image of himself and Brisbane Lions forward Joe Daniher from 2011 to social media. The pair will meet in the AFL grand final this weekend.Credit:Twitter
Both started their careers at different clubs from the ones they will represent on Saturday. In fact, Daniher almost became a Swan more than once in the past 15 years.
Anthony Daniher’s 118 games with Essendon and 115 with Sydney meant that Joe had the option to go either way under father-son rules. At the end of 2010 he decided to join Essendon in the 2012 draft rather than Sydney while driving back from a Christmas break in Temora with his oldest brother Darcy, who played six matches with the Bombers.

During that decision-making time he had locker No. 51 for his sporadic visits to Essendon’s Windy Hill and a spot in the AIS-AFL Academy alongside his close friend from Aberfeldie footy club, Liam McBean.
All of Daniher’s quirks were on full display at Essendon. He showed his mettle in big games – winning the Anzac Day Medal in 2017 with a three-goal performance, and won the best and fairest and was an All-Australian with 65 goals in 2017, but then injuries struck, and he felt a fresh start would be best for everyone.

He asked for a trade to Sydney after a secret meeting in the harbour city with Swans CEO Tom Harley became public, but it failed to go through when the Bombers played hardball. The Swans needed to trade Tom Papley to Carlton to get the picks to make the Daniher deal work. Papley remained a Swan.
Groin issues sent Daniher to Ireland as part of his recovery in the next pre-season as he returned to the Bombers, but he didn’t play his first game until round 14. He made the move to the Lions in 2021 after meeting club officials over Zoom several times while in the hub during COVID-19.

The Lions were impressed at his maturity as he asked how the team – who had lost that season’s preliminary final to Geelong – generated the energy he had recognised in their play. He asked whether they had any issue if he lived away from the norm. The impact a move would have on his partner, Adelle, was also strong in his consideration.
As a restricted free agent he joined the Lions without the drama of the failed Sydney move and Fagan embraced his different approach, respecting and understanding what made him tick. Football was his job.

A tight group of friends – including people from his days playing football with Aberfeldie, who will be at the grand final – and family, were his life.
Daniher has been a brilliant acquisition. His raking left-foot kicking, high marking and pinch-hitting in the ruck make him one of the game’s most valuable players. He has kicked 202 goals for the Lions in his 95 games.

Last Saturday night, after the Lions’ preliminary final win over Geelong, he tucked himself away in a quiet corner of the rooms. His grin was wide, his eyes alive as he avoided media attention, politely declining a request to chat as he soaked in the atmosphere.
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The Lions were in a grand final again, Joe’s second and the ninth combined for the famous Daniher name. His father played in Essendon’s loss in 1990, uncle Chris became a premiership player in 1993 after playing in 1990, and Terry was Essendon’s premiership captain in 1984-85, experiencing defeat in 1983 and 1990.
Joe was the Lions’ best player in last year’s grand final loss to Collingwood. Like all those who were part of that loss, the fire burns brightly to change the story this time.
For none more than Joe.

“He cares more than anyone at this footy club about winning, and I know he wants a premiership more than anyone,” Neale said.
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What about the opportunity to go ‘Back to Back’? The opportunity to continue on the journey with his comrades? From a selfish perspective, it would be sad to see Joe retire at 30, because he is such a vital part of our team.

Joe will be 31 at the start of next season and he has so much outstanding football left in him.
 

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M Malice said:
You are a long time retired.
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I’m 61 and I’m still going around. 😮‍💨

Come on Joe, give us one more year. Play out your contract and THEN reassess.
 
McIvor said:
I also wouldn’t be surprised if Joe is quietly sitting back revelling in all of this conjecture and may have leaked it himself despite having no intention of retiring simply for shits and giggles and his detest for the media.
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He certainly detests the media circus. I am sure that "up yours" action after his last goal was directed at the media scrum.
 
As a Bomber fan couldn't be happier for Joe

Whatever you do Joe - THANK YOU
 
I am gutted. Easily one of my favourite players ever and I was desperate for him to go on and it leaves a big hole.

But I just have to park that for now to say… WHAT A ****ING LEGEND!

Despite the sick, bullying obsession of the media to turn him into a meme and portray him as some sort of circus act, he was an utterly brilliant player and a force of nature.

It’s been pure box-office to watch him play for our club week after week.

We simply don’t win this premiership without him.

We don’t beat GWS in the semi without his utter clutch match winning pair of goals.

We don’t beat Geelong in the prelim without his heroic rucking efforts after Oscar went down.

Now after helping us win the ultimate, he disappears into the sunset at the peak of his powers, leaving a million dollars of backended money on the table, cementing his legacy as one of the most unique and unconventional personalities to ever play the game.

You’re a legend Joe, you magnificent creature. I miss you already.
 

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Retired Joe Daniher (2020-2024)

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