Brisbane coach Chris Fagan has opened up on the moment star Joe Daniher told him he needed to race home to be with his partner for the “imminent” birth of their first child.
Daniher had been with teammates in Melbourne preparing for their semi-final clash with the Demons when he received a phone call early Friday morning.
Fagan said while he agreed with Daniher’s decision to fly home immediately, he conceded it was “not great news for us”.
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“It wasn’t a surprise, I was just hoping we’d get through this game and it might happen in the next few days,” Fagan told Fox Footy.
“Joey called me this morning around about 9 o’clock and I’m thinking, ‘This is great news for Joey and probably not great news for us’ and that’s how it worked out.
“Good luck to them both – I hope all that works out well.
“It’s the right call.”
Herald Sun journalist Jon Ralph said Daniher’s decision to fly home happened “in a hurry”.
“He was back in Brisbane on a 10am flight to be with his partner for the birth of their first child,” he said on Fox Footy.
“Football boss Danny Daly tells me it happened in a hurry – they thought his partner was due in October!
“At 8.20am they got a phone call to be made aware that she was in labour.
“He’s such a secretive fella, that not only some of the players, some of the staffers weren’t even aware his partner was expecting.”
Fagan said as Daniher quickly departed a short time later, he then needed to bring in a replacement.
And that player was Tom Fullarton as he opted for a “like for like” replacement.
“We just didn’t want to move the whole team around just because one bloke went out of the team,” he said.
“We think he’s up for the occasion.”
Daniher was the hero for the Lions in last weekend’s elimination final, kicking the match-winner in the dying seconds to secure the win over Richmond.
But he isn’t the first footballer to leave teammates come finals for the birth of their child, with Daniel Bradshaw famously missing the 2000 semi final against Carlton.
Fox Footy’s Jonathan Brown later revealed then-Brisbane coach Leigh Matthews warned his players against having unprotected sex in January to avoid another finals clash.
“Daniel Bradshaw, a teammate of mine, pulled out before a final,” Brown told Fox Footy.
“His wife had the baby … We got eliminated in that final and then he said to us on the Wednesday: ‘Don’t have unprotected sex in January, because it coincides with September finals!’
“We all started laughing and he goes ‘I’m not joking, boys’. He was deadly serious.”
Saint Jake Carlisle also withdrew from St Kilda’s final campaign in 2020 to be with his partner for the birth of their first child.
“It’s just what happens these days,” Ralph said on Friday.
