Former Richmond forward Nathan Brown believes Joe Daniher must change the way he plays if Brisbane is to win a premiership in the coming years.
Daniher and the Lions again fell short in 2022, crashing out of finals with a 71-point Preliminary Final defeat at the hands of Geelong on Friday as the forward kicked just one behind.
With Daniher playing for Brisbane across the last two seasons, the Lions have been close but unable to reach the decider and Brown thinks that’s partly due to the key forward playing low-IQ football.
As Brown still believes the Lions have the list to succeed right now, he thinks the “wonderfully talented” Daniher must change the way he plays as soon as possible.
“I still think they’re in the premiership window,” Brown said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“But this is highlights of Joe Daniher the other night, he is a wonderfully talented player Joe Daniher.
“But while he plays like this, and he plays the way he is with low footy IQ, I don’t think they can win a premiership.”
Brown sees shades of Daniher in his former teammate Jack Riewoldt, who started his career as a prolific goalkicker but has since become a team-first forward.
Considering the amount of success Riewoldt has had in recent seasons, Brown thinks Daniher should try and emulate what the triple-premiership Tiger has been able to do.
“If I’m Joe Daniher, and I’m his coaching staff I’m saying, ‘Ring up Jack Riewoldt and ask how he changed’,” Brown said.
“Jack Riewoldt in the early part of his career was a similar type of player.
“But Joe Daniher at the moment, if he doesn’t change, I don’t think they can win the flag and I think they’re still in the premiership window.
“Jack Riewoldt changed, and he became a better player, a defensive player.
“You want the ball delivered to you 120 metres away the other night, he was arguing to the umpires, arms out.
“Absolutely, if he doesn’t change, they can’t win a flag.”
Brisbane have made finals for the last four seasons but have crashed out in Semi-Final weekend twice and Preliminary Final weekend the other two times.
"If he doesn't change, they can't win a flag."
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) September 18, 2022
Nathan Brown's strong stance on where Joe Daniher is at with his footy, and what he must do to change his game.#9AFLSFS | Watch on @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/t86dTa5xEv