Joe Daniher underwent off-season shoulder surgery, teammate Harris Andrews has revealed.
Daniher missed a chunk of the 2022 season after dislocating his shoulder in Round 7 against Sydney. Chris Fagan said at the time that the advice he received was Daniher did not require surgery at the time, and the 28-year-old returned for a Round 13 win over the Saints.
But when questioned on SEN Sportsday, Andrews revealed his teammate had gone under the knife in recent months.
“Joe had a shoulder surgery, I guess you could call it,” Andrews confirmed.
“He’s going well. I don’t know if he’s quite back into full training at the moment, but he’s certainly moving well.
“He’s out there the majority of the time, I think he’s just got a couple of last boxes to tick with the shoulder to get him back into full match sim and stuff.
“But we’re doing some forward 50 versus back 50 stuff, he’s been moving really well and really vocal out on the track, so we’re really excited for what he can do this year.”
There have been no reports from the Lions to suggest Daniher has undergone surgery or that he wasn’t yet in full training.
Brisbane did report via its website on December 2 that Daniher had taken part in training, although there’s been no indication since.
The key forward booted 39 goals in 2022, down on his form the year previous. However, the much-maligned Lion arguably won Brisbane the Elimination Final over Richmond off his own boot, kicking three goals and firing up in an incredible final term.
However, the revelation that Daniher is yet to resume full training is a blow for the Lions, who would have hoped for the spearhead to continue the momentum from late in 2022.
Former AFL forward Daniel Menzel recently told SEN he believed Daniher could “be as good as Buddy Franklin” given the Lion is yet to reach his potential.