AFL 2022: Brisbane Lions star Joe Daniher to miss semi-final with Melbourne for personal reasons

Brisbane has suffered a huge blow ahead of their semi-final showdown with Melbourne after a key forward pulled out.

Joe Daniher is out of Brisbane’s semi-final clash with Melbourne. . (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The Brisbane Lions have been hit with a massive match-day blow as star forward Joe Daniher was ruled out of Friday night’s semi-final showdown with Melbourne at the MCG.

A statement form the club on Friday morning revealed Daniher, who kicked the match-winning goal in last Thursday’s elimination final win over Richmond, would miss the game for personal reasons.

Daniher pulled out to be with his partner who has gone into labour with their first child, and the key forward said he wanted to be there for the birth.

“Brisbane Lions have made a late change for tonight’s Semi Final against Melbourne, with Joe Daniher to be replaced by emergency Tom Fullarton,” the statement said.

“Daniher has been removed from the 22 for the clash at the MCG due to family reasons.

“The Club supports Joe’s decision to be with his family at this time and respects their privacy.

“Kai Lohmann has been named as the fourth emergency, alongside Ryan Lester, Rhys Mathieson and Jaxon Prior.”

Brisbane was smashed by the Demons last month and has lost it’s past 14 games at the MCG.

Joe Daniher will miss the Semi Final tonight due to family reasons.

Full story at our website below📲https://t.co/NC5LVnkZSt

— Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) September 9, 2022

The blow comes after “unacceptable” performances against Melbourne this season had Lions coach Chris Fagan glad Brisbane is playing the Demons in Friday night’s do-or-die semi-final rather than the Sydney Swans.

Sydney was Brisbane’s other potential opponent in week two of the AFL finals series, but the Swans’ win over Melbourne last Friday means Fagan’s men must overcome the reigning premiers at the MCG – where the Lions haven’t won since 2014 – to earn a shot at Geelong in a preliminary final.

And that’s fine with Fagan, despite Brisbane’s shocking displays against Melbourne this season.

The Lions were thrashed by 58 points by the Demons at the Gabba last month, and also lost to Melbourne by 64 points at the MCG in June.

In contrast, Brisbane beat the Swans by 24 points in Sydney in May.

Lions coach Chris Fagan is preparing Brisbane for the challenge of beating Melbourne. Picture: Bradley Kanaris / Getty Images

“I had no preference, to be honest,” Fagan said.

“We were able to beat Sydney earlier in the year at the SCG, so that might lead you to believe that we would rather have played them but … I think it’s great that we’re playing Melbourne.

“It’s a good test. If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best, and if you want to get to the grand final, you’ve got to beat the good teams.

“There’s no easy games in finals, and we just look forward to the opportunity.

“We’ve been a team that’s been able to overcome hurdles for a long time now, and this is just another one.”

Fagan said it was pointless discussing what the Lions needed to change tactically to overcome the Demons unless they showed up at the MCG with an improved “mindset”.

“The bottom line against Melbourne is we’ve played (them) with unacceptable effort and attitude – we’ve just got to change that around,” he said.

“There’s nothing else really to talk about. Mindset is a key thing in every game, particularly in finals and against a team like Melbourne, who really are the only team this year that have caused us some problems.

“We recognise that, we’ve got to change that, and what hopefully we’ll all see (on Friday) night is a much better effort than what we’ve produced in the last couple of times we’ve played them.

“The good thing is we played them a couple of weeks ago, and we learnt a lot out of that game. Hopefully those learnings will help us (on Friday) night.

“We understand the enormity of the task. We understand that Melbourne are by a mile the red-hot favourites, as they should be, but the bottom line is when the (opening) siren goes, the scores are level, and it all depends on our effort and our attitude after that.”