‘Special player’: Chris Fagan opens up on Joe Daniher’s retirement in insightful interview

Brisbane Lions head coach Chris Fagan has opened up on Joe Daniher’s retirement after the 2023 premiership triumph in an insightful interview on 3AW.

Fagan said he’d known about Daniher’s retirement plans for a while, and it dawned on him that more of the team also knew when the key forward kicked the last goal of the grand final.

“I’m sure he could’ve played for another five years, but that’s what he wanted to do,” Fagan told Sam McClure and Matthew Richardson on 3AW’s Wide World of Sports.

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Fagan also opened up on the “enormous pressure” Daniher was under during his time at Essendon.

“Daniher is such a famous name at Essendon, four brothers who contributed hugely to that footy club, and Joe is the only ancestor of those four brothers that got to play at that level,” Fagan said.

“I’m sure he didn’t enjoy his footy a lot of the time because of that.”

Images: Robert Cianflone & Michael Willson/Getty