Brisbane Lions greats Leigh Matthews and Alastair Lynch say Joe Daniher not ‘indispensable’
Two Brisbane Lions legends believe the club has its best chance yet to end its AFL premiership drought despite Joe Daniher’s shoulder injury.
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As good as star Brisbane forward Joe Daniher is, he’s not “indispensable” at a Brisbane club that has never been better placed to end a premiership drought spanning 19 years.
That’s the opinion of two of the key pillars of the Lions’ triple premiership-winning performance from 2001 to 2003 – coach and AFL legend Leigh Matthews and full-forward Alastair Lynch.
Daniher has avoided surgery on the shoulder he damaged in Brisbane’s impressive 24-point weekend win over the Swans at the SCG.
However, the former Essendon star is set to miss four to six weeks of action.
But there’s no need for the Lions to panic, according to Lynch, who said Daniher should not be rushed back even if the recovery period was to exceed six weeks.
“Give Joe plenty of time to get his shoulder right – there’s no rush to come back,” Lynch said.
“The doctors are pretty conservative. They’d make sure they’re doing the right thing by him, so give him a rest and get him right.
“The Lions are the best equipped in the league to cover an injury or two. They have six or seven players that rotate through the forward line and any of them can really hurt the opposition.
“I don’t think it (Daniher’s unavailability) is a concern at all, and they’ve got such an even spread of goalkickers. Last year they had six players kick more than 25 goals, so they’re not reliant on one player to score goals.”
Matthews, a Lions board member, said Brisbane was obviously a better team with Daniher available.
“But do you think they’re just going to lose every week because he’s not there?” Matthews said.
“No one’s indispensable – that’s the bottom line.”
Matthews said the second-placed Lions, who will aim for a seventh win from eight matches when they host the struggling West Coast Eagles at the Gabba on Saturday night, were “best-placed” to a win the premiership since the club’s hat-trick of flags.
“They’re in the ballpark. All you can be is in the ballpark and be up the top of the ladder,” he said.
“Everyone is trying to win enough games so you finish in the top two on the ladder because then you get your home state advantage in the finals. That’s the long-term aim.
“Premierships are won in the last couple of weeks in the year. All you can do is stay alive until then.”
Lynch said the Lions “clearly” had their best chance of winning a flag for the first time since 2003.
“Across every line they’re clearly a better side than last year,” Lynch said.
Originally published as Brisbane Lions greats Leigh Matthews and Alastair Lynch say Joe Daniher not ‘indispensable’
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