There were 18 goal celebrations for the Brisbane Lions in their grand final win over Sydney, but the final one will be the most memorable in the years to come. 

After rumours surrounding his future in the game surfaced on the eve of the match, it was only right that Joe Daniher had the final say in the Lions's triumph, getting on the end of some more brilliant work from Norm Smith medallist Will Ashcroft and Zac Bailey to put the icing on the cake. 

Daniher isn't one for exuberant goal celebrations usually, he's not from the school of teammate Kai Lohmann, Sydney's Tom Papley or about 12 Hawthorn players, so this celebration stood out. 

The 30-year-old leapt in the air and simultaneously gave a fist pump to the Lions fans seated near the forward pocket before the cameras panned to Chris Fagan on the bench with both arms raised like a victorious boxer. 

When the cameras panned back to Daniher he was nowhere to be seen, stuck at the bottom of a massive pack as his teammates came from all corners of the ground to embrace him. Even those from the other end of the ground, Dayne Zorko, Ryan Lester and Harris Andrews joined the celebrations. 

If Saturday's grand final was the final time we see Daniher on the park, he'll have departed the AFL having played the quintessential Joe Daniher game. 

All the attributes that make Daniher a tantalising and sometimes wildly frustrating player were on full show. He was a menace in the forward line and could've ended up with a massive bag of goals if not for some wayward kicking, but still led all players on the ground with 12 score involvements. 

With Oscar McInerney out, Daniher shouldered more responsibility in the ruck and at one point in the second quarter he ragdolled Brodie Grundy to win a clearance which resulted directly in a goal. 

There were marks on the lead higher up the ground before he wheeled onto that booming left foot in signature fashion. It was classic Joe. 

Daniher finished the grand final with 16 disposals, eight marks and two goals, all roughly around the averages he has amassed in his 204-game career since making his debut in 2013. 

Much of the charm and value of Daniher the footballer comes in his unpredictability. After all, if he doesn't know what he is going to do next, how are his opponents supposed to know? He is the ultimate X factor player to have forward of the ball. 

Therefore it is perfectly Daniher that no-one knows whether the grand final win over Sydney was his last game of football. 

Multiple reports have suggested he will call it quits in the coming days, weeks or months once the dust settles on Brisbane's premiership triumph. 

However, his father Anthony, who played 233 games for Sydney and Essendon, has suggested his son would be back on the park in 2025. It's anyone's guess as to what exactly he'll do.

"No, he is just in a very happy place at the moment so he will keep going, he's all right," he told News Corp when asked about his son's future.

"He is that happy, it's not funny, It's a super (work-life) balance. People read into things but that's OK. Joe is Joe and he's good to write stories about so let it roll. When you win, you let it roll. (His future) will sort itself out so he will just soak this one up."

Andrews, Brisbane's premiership co-captain, seemed to be in the dark about his star teammate's future saying, "I cannot control what Joey does" when asked about what Daniher would do.

"However that plays out, it will play out. We know that Joey has a lot more going on than necessarily football but I couldn't be happier for him," Andrews told Channel Nine's Sunday Footy Show.

"You can see throughout the finals series how driven he was to perform well. He has been incredible.

"We will just enjoy this for the moment and whatever happens, happens."

News of a major player like Daniher considering a premature retirement breaking 24 hours before a grand final would rock most teams, but Brisbane didn't look the slightest bit phased.

There are two different reasons for this. The first is the Lions brass knows Daniher well and as some reports have suggested, they would have been aware of his intentions for 2025 well before the rest of the public was. 

The second is a brutal truth for both Daniher and the rest of the competition — this team is good enough to repeat without their big No.3 on the park next season.

Make no mistake about it, the Lions will prefer Daniher continues to play on and continues to give defensive units fits like he gave the Swans back six in the grand final. 

Daniher has led the Lions's goalkicking over the last two seasons, but the team is constructed in a way that isn't solely reliant on one player doing the bulk of the damage on its forward half in the way other teams in the competition are.

Along with Daniher, nine other Brisbane players kicked double-digit goals in 2024, with five kicking over 30. That mark is an uptick on 2023 where only Daniher, Charlie Cameron and Eric Hipwood managed over 30 goals. 

Brisbane has diversified its attack in a way where it can cut you up in a variety of methods, rather than simply bombing it forward to Daniher isolated in the forward line.

The Lions have no problem sending Daniher higher up the field where his penetrating ball use can find the likes of Callum Ah Chee or Kai Lohmann higher up the ground. 

Brisbane's tall forward stocks have also been boosted by the emergence of Logan Morris, who enjoyed a strong debut season with 24 goals and proved to be a legitimate aerial threat. 

Next season, the Lions will welcome back Lincoln McCarthy, who played just eight goals before suffering a knee injury this year. Boom father-son recruit Levi Ashcroft is rated as AFL-ready as any prospect to come through the juniors in recent years and is known for hitting the scoreboard as well. 

If Daniher does call it a day, the Lions would be well-advised to see how Hawthorn responded to losing Lance Franklin after winning the 2013 premiership. 

Like the Lions, the Hawks also had a fleet of excellent small to mid-sized forwards who were able to surround Jarryd Roughead in excellent fashion once Franklin departed. 

The Hawks won two more premierships after Franklin's departure, with the likes of Jack Gunston, Luke Breust, Cyril Rioli and Paul Puopolo making up a dynamic forward pack. 

By the time the Hawks had won the 2015 premiership, they'd stacked together four consecutive grand final appearances, winning three of them. 

Including last year's heartbreaking loss to Collingwood, the Lions are now at two straight. 

Do not be surprised if Brisbane emulates that iconic Hawthorn team by making a habit of making it to the big dance.

That's with or without Joe Daniher.