The uncertainty over the future of Brisbane star Joe Daniher lingers, but there seems to be no doubt that the Lions should be rewarded for their AFL premiership win with a substantial Gabba upgrade or a new stadium.
About 5000 people saluted the all-conquering Lions on Tuesday afternoon in Brisbane’s CBD as the celebrations from the club’s 60-point grand-final victory over Sydney continued in earnest.
The mercurial Daniher was among the players who received the loudest cheers, with fans perhaps trying to convince the 30-year-old forward to dispel rumours that he’s ready to retire from football.
Earlier, Lions football manager Danny Daly told SEN Radio it might not be until next week that Daniher informs the club whether he intends to honour the final year of his lucrative contract.
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However, it seems the Lions are expecting Daniher to retire immediately.
“If you here what people are talking about and the way he presented himself (on Tuesday morning), I’d be almost thinking that he’s thinking of giving it away,” Daly said.
“We obviously want him to keep playing for our footy club, but we also appreciate what he wants to do in his life.
“I feel like I just need to know when the right time is to just grab him and say ‘come on mate, what are we doing’.
“I’m sure that’ll be at the end of the week, or early next week.
“We’ll let the dust settle and let him enjoy his celebrations.”
With or without Daniher, the Lions membership base is expected to grow on the back of the club’s premiership success, with Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner saying the team had outgrown the ageing Gabba, which sits about 36,000 fans when full.
“The people of Brisbane are stopping me on the street all the time asking what’s the future, and they know also that the Gabba capped out at capacity a number of times this season,” Schrinner said.
“They (the Lions) could have sold more tickets, they could have had more fans coming in to see a game live, but they were capped, so as support continues to grow, as our city continues to grow, what’s the future?
“If they don’t have a permanent home, and they can’t accommodate that growth, what will that do to the Lions in the future?
“It’s not a future we want to consider. We want to see them to continuing to grow and continuing to succeed.”
“We need to … get a good option that will leave a good legacy outcome. Ultimately the state election (this month) will decide what happens.”
Before the civic reception, Lions co-captain Lachie Neale had scans on his injured foot, and emerged hopeful of avoiding surgery.
“That’s a possibility,” Neale said.
“It’d be nice just to rest for four to six weeks, and then be right to go and start running.
“I didn’t do the start of the pre-season last year, so it’s not the end of the world if that happens (again) and I miss a little bit of the start, but we’ll wait and see.”
The Lions are expected to give an update on the extent of Neale’s injury on Wednesday.
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