Brisbane coach adamant that former Lions star Joe Daniher will ‘never’ come out of retirement to play in Melbourne

Lions coach Chris Fagan says the suggestion that former Brisbane star Joe Daniher will come out of retirement to play in Melbourne ranks among “the great jokes of all time”.

Ex-Essendon forward Daniher was only 30 when he announced that he was retiring after helping the Lions win last year’s premiership.

Fagan has previously said that if Daniher made the unlikely decision to play again, it would only be for Brisbane.

However, the Melbourne Demons have approached Daniher about playing next season.

“I might’ve sent him a cheeky text message just to check in with big Joe … but he laughed it off pretty quick,” Demons coach Simon Goodwin told AFL 360.

On Friday, the Daniher matter came up again when Fagan was asked about Carlton star Charlie Curnow being linked with a move to the Gold Coast Suns, whom the Lions meet in Saturday’s QClash at People First Stadium.

“I sort of noticed it (the Curnow speculation) going on in the background, but I don’t have any firm thoughts on it,” Fagan said.

“It’s that time of the year where everything gets speculated on. How many times are people going to come up and say that Joey Daniher’s going back to Melbourne?

“It’s one of the great jokes of all time – it’ll never happen.”

Daniher’s previous spot in Brisbane’ forward line has been filled for 10 games this season by former Suns player Sam Day.

However, Day won’t take on his former club on Saturday, having been named among the emergencies for the second successive match after missing Brisbane’s win over Carlton earlier this month for personal reasons.

Fagan has instead again opted to select two ruckmen in Oscar McInerney and Darcy Fort.

“It’s been good, but it’s still just an experiment. It’s just a week-to-week thing,” the Lions coach said.

“We are happy with what we’ve seen so far (in playing McInerney and Fort). They’ve both been able to contribute in the ruck, and they’ve both been able to contribute up forward in little ways.”

However, there will be one change to Brisbane’s forward line after Kai Lohmann injured his calf at training.

Lohmann will be replaced by the versatile Zac Bailey, who returns after serving a one-game suspension for rough conduct.

“Zac Bailey can go and play forward. We got a bit of flexibility there, so it’s good because you never know what’s going to happen down the track. You’ve always got to be able to cope,” Fagan said.

The Lions have made one other change to the 23 that beat the Bulldogs by 10 points last Friday, with Irishman Conor McKenna replacing the omitted Bruce Reville.

The second-placed Lions can deal Gold Coast’s hopes of playing finals football for the first time a blow with a win on Saturday.

“The truth is that the Gold Coast Suns have beaten some pretty good teams this year. The last time they played at their ground they beat (competition leaders) Collingwood,” Fagan said in anticipation of a tough encounter.

“They’re a much better version of themselves than we’ve played against for a long time, so it’s a big game.”