When Brisbane runs out for the AFL grand final on Saturday afternoon, star forward Joe Daniher will be at the centre of the club's attempts to win its first premiership since 2004.

He starred in last year's grand final against Collingwood and was the match-winner when the Lions overturned a 44-point deficit in an epic semifinal against the GWS Giants a fortnight ago.

However, if his wishes had been granted five years ago, he would have been running out through the Sydney Swans banner on grand final day.

Here is the story of how Joe Daniher almost ended up with the Swans before eventually landing and thriving in Brisbane. 

Swans rejected early as prodigy picks Bombers

The Daniher name is synonymous with the Essendon Football Club, but what often gets lost is the family's connection with the Swans and New South Wales in general.

Joe's father Anthony played for both Essendon and South Melbourne/Sydney during his 233-game career. Anthony won the Swans best and fairest in 1985 before moving across to the Bombers for the start of the 1987 season. He was an All-Australian in 1991 with Essendon and played in the Bombers's losing 1990 grand final team.

Joe's uncle Terry famously played 294 games for the Bombers between 1978 and 1992, captaining Essendon to premierships in 1984 and 1985, but began his career playing 19 games for the Swans in 1976 and 1977.

The Danihers were born and raised in NSW, spending a lot of their time in Ungarie, a small town over 500 kilometres west of Sydney. 

Joe's other uncles, Neale and Chris, also had AFL careers. Neale is widely considered to be the most talented out of the four, but had his career cut short by injuries. He later enjoyed a successful stint in the coaches' box with Melbourne between 1998 and 2007. Chris played 124 games for the Bombers between 1987 and 1997 and played in the Bombers's 1993 premiership team. 

They made history for Essendon in 1990 when all four played together against St Kilda, the first time in VFL/AFL history that four brothers had played on the same team. 

Given his father played over 100 games for both the Swans and Bombers, Joe had the choice of playing for either club under the father-son rule. 

At the end of 2010, the 16-year-old informed the Swans that he was set to join Essendon via the 2012 draft.

''Joe's been on our radar for a while but we spent some time getting to know him and spoke to people who know him. But he took his time too, and that's what Joe's like,'' Essendon's football boss Paul Hamilton said at the time.

''As much as we're getting a very talented young footballer, we're also getting a very mature young man. He didn't want to make a quick decision, he wanted to look through both options, and he spent some time at both clubs before making his mind up.

''We're just really excited that … he's decided he wants to play for us and, hopefully, play a lot of AFL football with his brother.

''I think it's a really good endorsement of the development program we've put in place, that Joe's decided we're the right club for him, and it's a fantastic opportunity for us and our conditioning staff as well. We've got a two-year window now to get him ready, and that's only going to help him.''

Formative years amid turmoil at Essendon

Securing Joe's commitment was a significant win for the Bombers, especially after assembling what was seen as a coaching dream team with James Hird and Mark Thompson at the helm.

Joe was considered to be one of the top prospects in the 2012 draft class which featured Lachie Whitfield, Jake Stringer, Jack Macrae, Ollie Wines and Nick Vlastuin in the top 10. 

After spending a few years training sporadically with the Bombers, Joe officially became an Essendon player when he was drafted with the 10th pick.

"Joe is a rare talent. A key forward/ruckman who can dominate the air and also be as good at ground level," Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd said when Joe was drafted.

"Joe is one of the most exciting key forwards to come into the game for a long time."

Highlights of Joe's high-flying marks and booming left-foot kicks during his junior career invoked memories of Lloyd, who had retired at the end of 2009 as the Bombers's all-time leading goal kicker. It seemed as though the club had virtually instantly found his replacement.

"It's a really big relief for me just to finally be here and holding an Essendon jumper," Joe said moments after being handed his Essendon jumper by Hird. 

But just months after being drafted, Joe's career was plunged into controversy before he had played a game when Essendon was forced to self-report to the AFL on the eve of the 2013 season over its 2012 supplements program.

A strong finals debut and steady rise to stardom

Joe was made to wait until Round 11 of the 2013 season to make his debut, and acquitted himself well, tallying 15 disposals in a five-point win over Carlton.

He followed this up with 17 touches and three goals in a win over the Gold Coast Suns, with one of them coming on the run from outside 50 metres.

The Bombers were booted out of the finals due to the supplements saga, so Joe had to wait to play on the biggest stage. 

When the 2014 season rolled around, Joe was a mainstay in Essendon's side in Thompson's year as interim coach. The young forward played 21 games and kicked 28 goals, as the Bombers this time made the finals. 

Joe starred in the elimination final against North Melbourne, kicking four goals, but wound up on the losing side as the Bombers coughed up a 27-point half-time lead to lose by 12 points. A decade on, this remains the closest Essendon has come to winning a final since 2004.

Despite his club continuing to be hampered by the after-effects of the supplements scandal, Joe's star continued to rise.

He was a lone shining light in a forgettable 2015 season, kicking 34 goals, before following it up with 43 goals in 2016, a year where the 34 players involved in the 2012 supplements program were suspended. 

There was huge optimism surrounding the Bombers at the start of 2017 when the likes of Dyson Heppell, Michael Hurley and Cale Hooker were welcomed back after serving their suspensions. The combination of the returning players with young stars such as Joe and Zach Merrett had Bombers fans daring to dream.

Joe turned in a career-best season. He was named an All-Australian and won Essendon's best and fairest after kicking 65 goals. He also added the Anzac Medal and the Mark of the Year award. 

The Bombers seemed to have a transformative star to build their next premiership assault around, and went shopping at the end of 2017, adding Adam Saad, Devon Smith and Jake Stringer ahead of the 2018 season.

Nightmare three-year run of injuries halts ascent

Despite coming into 2018 as a popular pre-season premiership smoky, Joe and the Bombers stumbled out of the gates. 

He kicked two goals in the first game of the season, a win over 2017 minor premiers Adelaide, but was then held goalless in Round 2 against Fremantle, the first time he'd failed to kick a goal since Round 7, 2016. 

The Bombers sputtered out to a 2-5 start through the first seven games of the season, and Joe's signature explosiveness was notably missing as he managed just eight goals. 

Scans undertaken after the Round 7 loss to Hawthorn, where he'd been held to 11 disposals and a goal, revealed an early onset of osteitis pubis, and the Bombers shut down their star man for the rest of the season.

Hopes were even higher at Essendon entering 2019 after the acquisition of star midfielder Dylan Shiel during the trade period. Joe enjoyed a strong pre-season and looked set for a big year before being struck down by a mysterious calf injury at training before Round 1.

Essendon rushed its star forward back for a Round 5 clash against North Melbourne and JOe starred on Anzac Day the following week, but the comeback would be short-lived. Just four games into his return, the Bombers announced Joe would be sidelined with a relapse of his osteitis pubis and would miss the remainder of the season. After avoiding surgery the first time around, he went under the knife this time.

"Clearly I want to be out there with my teammates, but with the key people involved in this process we made the decision to go down this path with surgery more than likely," Joe said after the injury.

"I've felt like I have done everything I could to get back to this point, but with this relapse, our options are now exhausted, which is obviously disappointing."

A casual meeting with Swans chief turns serious

Essendon was in the thick of a race to make the top eight when Joe was spotted meeting with Sydney CEO Tom Harley in August 2019 as he travelled to the Harbour City to meet with his surgeon following a groin operation earlier in the year. 

Both the Bombers and Swans initially poured cold water on the idea that he was discussing a move up north, and he too admitted afterwards that the initial catch-up wasn't about a potential move.

"He was my mentor at the AIS (Academy). We caught up and had a brilliant discussion about how I could do things in life and what I needed to do to progress in my off-field and stuff like that," Joe said of the meeting with Harley on the Rip Through It podcast. 

"Someone obviously saw me with him and blew up about me going to Sydney and at that point, I was like, 'I'm not going to go to Sydney.'

"There wasn't even any chat of footy … as the year kept unfolding I wasn't getting too many wins with the body and the on-field stuff, so I started to think about a change, a change of environment, would that sort of help the injury, help the mental state of performing and playing AFL, so all those things started to creep into my mind."

Sydney had a history of poaching star forwards from rival clubs, having plucked Tony Lockett and Barry Hall from St Kilda before grabbing Lance Franklin from Hawthorn.

With Franklin coming towards the end of his nine-year deal, Joe seemed like a logical replacement for the iconic forward. 

Joe officially submitted a trade request prior to the 2019 trade period, and although the Swans and Bombers negotiated feverishly, a deal could not be struck, leaving Joe to return to Bomberland. 

"Essendon was fantastic and how we dealt with it was a really open discussion and they were like, 'It's probably not going to happen,' and I was like, 'Well, the old, if you don't get if you don't ask,' so I asked, 'Can you make this happen?' and they were like, 'If we get something that we think is fair, we'll make it happen for you', and I was like, 'Alright perfect,'" Joe said.

"I was overseas at the time and they didn't get something they thought was fair and we said let's knuckle down for the season.

"I felt completely fine rolling back (into Essendon).

"Some people might not have been thrilled or happy, some teammates might not have been happy, but you can only do as well as you go, and I felt like I was putting in everything I could have, and it's unfortunate I wasn't getting the benefit of that, I wasn't getting visual support for the guys (of), 'I'm out here kicking goals for you guys, I'm actually committed.'"

Joe's trade request to the Swans was met with some anger in Essendon circles, namely from ex-teammate Brendon Goddard, who accused him of not being diligent enough in his injury rehab.

"In this case, it does feel like he owes the club," Goddard told RSN at the time.

"As much as the injuries affected him, he could've gone about it in a better way with his rehab, particularly the first time around.

"At the time I didn't think he dedicated himself hard enough to recovering and rehab, and giving himself the best chance to get up and play and get himself right.

"That's why it's a bit disappointing."

Joe's famous uncle Terry was also disappointed, calling his nephew's decision to seek greener pastures one that "makes you scratch your head a bit".

Lions get in touch during final season with Bombers

A COVID-interrupted year meant Joe struggled to get on the park once again for Essendon in 2020, in what would be his final year with the club.

He eventually made his return in Round 14 against Hawthorn and kicked three goals in a match-winning effort, his last goals in Bombers colours. 

As the season progressed, Brisbane emerged as a contender for Joe's services, with club CEO Greg Swann keeping tabs on the then-Bomber's situation.

Joe's manager put him in touch with Lions coach Chris Fagan and then-Lions football boss David Noble to discuss a potential move, and he joined the club as a restricted free agent in October 2020 after Essendon chose not to match a three-year offer made by Brisbane.

"The chance to play for Essendon is something I dreamt about and aspired to growing up," Joe said after the move.

"I've made lifelong friendships there and it has helped shape me as a person. I'm forever grateful to them and look forward to seeing them progress under 'Truck' (ex-Essendon coach Ben Rutten).

"The move to Brisbane is a new challenge I'm really looking forward to. I can't wait to relocate to Queensland, get to work with my new teammates and coaches and build relationships across the club."

He had signed a three-year extension with Essendon midway through 2017, but incredibly those additional three years yielded just 15 games out of the star forward.

Joe pointed to Brisbane's track record of getting players healthy as a reason for his defection with the club having revitalised the career of small forward Lincoln McCarthy, who had struggled to get on the park for Geelong before joining the Lions in 2019.

Despite being previously interested in Joe, the Swans stayed clear, opting to draft Logan McDonald with the No.4 pick in the 2020 draft as its Franklin successor instead. Essendon received a first-round pick as compensation for losing Joe and selected Archie Perkins at No.9.

Finals success after arriving in Brisbane

Joe's groin issues have been a thing of the past since arriving at the Lions. 

The 30-year-old has played no less than 19 games in each of his four seasons with the Lions. Saturday's grand final will be his 27th game of the 2024 season, a career-high mark. 

Outside of the horrid three-year stretch between 2018 and 2020, Joe has been incredibly durable throughout his career. Take away the five-game debut season of 2013 and he has averaged just a hair under 23 games a season in the remaining eight years of his career. 

Injuries and a lack of consistency have robbed him of reaching the lofty expectations set upon him when he was drafted. If not for that three-year run of groin issues, Joe may well have added more All-Australian jackets and might have a resume mirroring that of Cats star Jeremy Cameron, who is arguably the greatest forward of the post-Franklin, Tom Hawkins and Jack Riewoldt generation.

It is easy to look at Joe and wonder what he could have been, but doing so would be ignoring what he is — one of the most dangerous forwards in the competition and a genuine big-game performer. 

After that four-goal haul in his first final way back in 2014, he has continued to be a solid finals performer throughout his career.

In 12 finals, Joe has kicked 27 goals, including 13 in last year's run to the grand final. He was one of Brisbane's best in last year's decider, kicking three goals and grabbing 16 disposals. 

The Lions may not have even made it this far this season if not for his game-breaking heroics in the final quarter against the Giants in the semifinal, where he kicked four goals, with two of them coming in the final quarter.

Joe was held goalless in the preliminary final win over Geelong, but as he has shown throughout his career, quiet finals come few and far between for the talented left-footer. 

If he has another match-winning effort for the Lions in Saturday's decider, the Swans will look over and wonder what could have and, perhaps, should have been.