bornadog
09-07-2016, 12:02 AM
Link (http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/western-bulldogs/western-bulldogs-youngster-caleb-daniel-is-thriving-in-the-afl/news-story/dde50acc2473bd1109c30c34715b2947)
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/5491d3e9f2fb5bf19c58b8402b2d96d2?width=316
At 7 years old
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/19e937a69349bc04b48960d35e95f689?width=650
THE recruiters couldn’t help but notice. Meeting an AFL club at an Adelaide hotel, Caleb Daniel’s legs dangled as he sat in a chair.
They couldn’t quite touch the ground. Daniel talked a big game and the scouts loved him, but after one look knew it would be a tall order to pick him. “Imagine what the (senior coach) would say on the first day of pre-season,” one grinned.
“He looked about 12!”
Welcome to the life of Caleb Daniel, the 168cm Western Bulldog who looks up to all of his peers.
“It’d be nice to be six-foot two and 80kg, but that’s something I won’t be ever,” Daniel says.
A lack of red meat on his plate wasn’t to blame. “Small” mum Karen laughs when asked about the gene pool.
“We make Caleb look big. When (older sister) Chloe and I are around Caleb he’s the big man in the family.”
Caleb’s dad Grant can look him in the eye but Karen and Chloe need high heels on to get close.
Daniel has always played at elbow height. It’s the reason Karen purchased his trademark black helmet — the same one he will wear against Richmond. When Daniel was five or six he signed up to Edwardstown juniors in Adelaide for his first real kick of the Sherrin.
“He jumped the fence with a football nearly the size of his torso,” Karen says, “and his coaches kind of looked at each other.
They said, ‘What, are we taking pre-schoolers now?’”
But it is what happened next which tells the real story. Daniel stayed, and Daniel dominated.
The only kid who could naturally kick, mark and handball, Daniel punched above his weight for the first time, but certainly not the last.
“Gobsmacked,” is how Karen describes the reaction.
“And they never mentioned him not belonging again.” Sledges and doubters have been constant, but Daniel’s ears have never been tuned to either. “I usually just laugh it off (on the field). Sometimes I just agree with them,” he says.
“I don’t say too much out there, I’m not quick-witted enough.”
What about the lack of inches? “There’s obviously disadvantages. But I’ve never really thought too negatively about it.”
And neither have the Bulldogs.
Come draft time in 2014, they put his recruitment down to a science.
There was no question Daniel could play. Coming off an ankle injury, you don’t finish the national championships as the No. 1 ranked player averaging 172 SuperCoach points without ability.
Daniel’s numbers dwarfed the likes of Christian Petracca, Isaac Heeney and Angus Brayshaw and his form continued in 11 SANFL games for South Adelaide.
The Bulldogs knew from Daniel’s family tree he wouldn’t be getting any bigger.
So they examined what impact the lack of inches would have in the AFL.
If he was an inside midfielder or a marking player, he wouldn’t cut it. For that you need body size, and the Dogs were flush for that sort anyway.
But Daniel’s forte was uncontested ball and ground-level play.
And for that, size doesn’t matter. After 22 AFL games, 75 per cent of Daniel’s neat disposals have been in space.
Blessed with little feet, Daniel boasts a quick change of direction which buys extra time to make those clever decisions.
With the height hurdle cleared, Bulldog recruiters engaged some of their smartest football brains to see how he would fit into the gamestyle.
This was tricky, as the Dogs were between senior coaches, but the forensic analysis delivered a perfect match.
In 2014, the Dogs were bulls around the ball but broke down in transition, particularly out of defence.
They lacked a link man. Daniel was just that.
Ardent Bulldog minds must wander to the bevy of precise deliveries Daniel has made to defuse danger.
When those little legs start pumping and Daniel gets the ball, you can just about bank on the Dogs winning the next possession.
There’s no waste. “And he did that to us on the ‘G about 3-4 times in really tight spaces,” Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says. Daniel’s footy brain is enormous, mind a steel trap for the next play. No matter how critical the moment, he simply makes the right decision.
It’s why David King sees a blend of Sam Mitchell and Brent Harvey when he watches Daniel.
King reckons those pinpoint 20m kicks can be just as important as long, penetrating passes.
So the Dogs knew Daniel’s frame wouldn’t matter and he was the missing ingredient in their team. Still, they wanted a killer attribute. One to set him apart.
When the draft combine rolled around, they found it. Weeks after playing in South Adelaide’s preliminary final, Daniel ran the beep test. As the last man to pull out at the elite level of 16.1, he was red in the face.
And after steadily warming throughout the year, the Dogs officially had the hots for him.
The beep test showed he had enormous aerobic capacity and the mental drive to match.
“A 13 beep isn’t good enough for that role,” chief recruiter Simon Dalrymple said on draft night
“But 16 is elite so we see that as a real point of difference.” Dogs coach Luke Beveridge loves Daniel’s creativity and the footprint he is leaving on wins. Those who tracked Daniel aren’t surprised. They say he is doing exactly what he did at underage level for the Bulldogs. Beveridge goes back to Round 3 as Daniel’s “significant day”. He was shifted onto Sam Mitchell and the scoreboard promptly shifted the Dogs’ way.
The next week Daniel would get a Rising Star nomination and Matthew Lloyd says if it was voted on today, the pipsqueak Bulldog should win it.
The bookies are starting to agree. Daniel has been crunched into a clear top three, along with No. 1 pick Jacob Weitering and No. 2 Petracca. And Champion Data backs it all up.
In Daniel’s position, he is producing better numbers than seasoned stars Brett Deledio, Toby Greene, Steve Johnson and Harvey. But it’s not just his short-kicking game cutting sides apart. Champion says Daniel’s long-kicking rating is +15 per cent — ranked No. 2 in the AFL. “We think we’ve got a bit of a steal there,” Beveridge said this week. A bit? The Dogs got Daniel with their last live pick, No. 46, which they received for Liam Jones.
Yet in drafting circles, that was considered early. About 10 clubs interviewed Daniel but if you ask South Adelaide coach Brad Gotch he’ll tell you the Dogs were the only genuine buyer. It’s why Daniel was nervous on draft night.
“I think every footballer has got that self-doubt in their head,” Daniel says. “I’d be lying if I said (missing out) didn’t dawn on my mind. “There was a lot of taller midfielders and taller forwards that were playing good footy.
“There was nerves when it got to about pick 40 because a few of my mates slid from South Australia from where they were mock drafted.”
But when Daniel’s name was called he became the smallest player drafted since Tony Liberatore, and the 1990 Brownlow winner called him straight away.
Liberatore saw a snippet of Daniel that year and alerted Dalrymple when they crossed paths. “If you’re good enough you can make it. I’ve always had that attitude,” Libba says. “He’s the modern-game player. He gets the ball, his agility is good, he uses the ball well, he can run and he can break lines.
“The kid’s got something. I’m rapt another little fella is playing AFL.”
Mum Karen gets teary when she reflects. “It’s always been David v Goliath,” she says, “because he’s always been the tiny fella. “He flies the flag for the little people.” Diminutive in stature, delightful to watch best sums up Caleb Daniel.
“We never thought of him being small. He’s a big man in a little fella’s body.”
CALEB DANIEL ON THAT HELMET
CALEB Daniel will wear the same helmet against Richmond as his first game of contact footy as a tiny junior more than 10 years ago. Mum Karen purchased the famous headgear when tackling was introduced and Daniel told the Herald Sun he was yet to replace it. “Mum said as soon as you get into the tackling and contact side of things I wouldn’t mind you chucking this on,” Daniel said.
“I thought nothing about it, just put it on and it stuck with me.
“I haven’t changed it yet. I’ve probably had a massive head from the age of seven through to now, it’s the same size I guess.” Karen says they didn’t make helmets small enough for Caleb at the time, but after a couple of modifications it was good to go. About twelve years on little has changed.
“He was always at that kind of elbow height where it’s easy to be whacked without even trying,” Karen said.
“It became part of his kit. The deal for him was I’d let him play up (an age group) when he was asked to, as long as he wore the helmet.”
Born in Queensland, Daniel’s first sporting love was rugby league and with Jonathan Thurston starting his career at the same time the helmet look was an easy sell.
Daniel is the only AFL player to wear a helmet by design and has no plans to start showing off his flowing locks on the footy field. “There’s a bit of rust, bit of blood, bit of sweat and a bit of tears in there,” he said.
“There’s a bit of sniff on it, I’m not a massive fan of washing it. “It doesn’t faze me too much, if it stinks I’ll wash it and if it smells all right it sticks around. “It just sits in my bag until gameday and then it goes on.”
But what happens if time finally catch up with Daniel’s black lid? “I’m not too fussed,” he said.
“If it doesn’t turn out and the helmet breaks, I don’t have to wear it anymore. It’s just something I’ve worn for 10-plus years and that’s all it’s been, it just instils that little bit of confidence.”
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/5491d3e9f2fb5bf19c58b8402b2d96d2?width=316
At 7 years old
http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/19e937a69349bc04b48960d35e95f689?width=650
THE recruiters couldn’t help but notice. Meeting an AFL club at an Adelaide hotel, Caleb Daniel’s legs dangled as he sat in a chair.
They couldn’t quite touch the ground. Daniel talked a big game and the scouts loved him, but after one look knew it would be a tall order to pick him. “Imagine what the (senior coach) would say on the first day of pre-season,” one grinned.
“He looked about 12!”
Welcome to the life of Caleb Daniel, the 168cm Western Bulldog who looks up to all of his peers.
“It’d be nice to be six-foot two and 80kg, but that’s something I won’t be ever,” Daniel says.
A lack of red meat on his plate wasn’t to blame. “Small” mum Karen laughs when asked about the gene pool.
“We make Caleb look big. When (older sister) Chloe and I are around Caleb he’s the big man in the family.”
Caleb’s dad Grant can look him in the eye but Karen and Chloe need high heels on to get close.
Daniel has always played at elbow height. It’s the reason Karen purchased his trademark black helmet — the same one he will wear against Richmond. When Daniel was five or six he signed up to Edwardstown juniors in Adelaide for his first real kick of the Sherrin.
“He jumped the fence with a football nearly the size of his torso,” Karen says, “and his coaches kind of looked at each other.
They said, ‘What, are we taking pre-schoolers now?’”
But it is what happened next which tells the real story. Daniel stayed, and Daniel dominated.
The only kid who could naturally kick, mark and handball, Daniel punched above his weight for the first time, but certainly not the last.
“Gobsmacked,” is how Karen describes the reaction.
“And they never mentioned him not belonging again.” Sledges and doubters have been constant, but Daniel’s ears have never been tuned to either. “I usually just laugh it off (on the field). Sometimes I just agree with them,” he says.
“I don’t say too much out there, I’m not quick-witted enough.”
What about the lack of inches? “There’s obviously disadvantages. But I’ve never really thought too negatively about it.”
And neither have the Bulldogs.
Come draft time in 2014, they put his recruitment down to a science.
There was no question Daniel could play. Coming off an ankle injury, you don’t finish the national championships as the No. 1 ranked player averaging 172 SuperCoach points without ability.
Daniel’s numbers dwarfed the likes of Christian Petracca, Isaac Heeney and Angus Brayshaw and his form continued in 11 SANFL games for South Adelaide.
The Bulldogs knew from Daniel’s family tree he wouldn’t be getting any bigger.
So they examined what impact the lack of inches would have in the AFL.
If he was an inside midfielder or a marking player, he wouldn’t cut it. For that you need body size, and the Dogs were flush for that sort anyway.
But Daniel’s forte was uncontested ball and ground-level play.
And for that, size doesn’t matter. After 22 AFL games, 75 per cent of Daniel’s neat disposals have been in space.
Blessed with little feet, Daniel boasts a quick change of direction which buys extra time to make those clever decisions.
With the height hurdle cleared, Bulldog recruiters engaged some of their smartest football brains to see how he would fit into the gamestyle.
This was tricky, as the Dogs were between senior coaches, but the forensic analysis delivered a perfect match.
In 2014, the Dogs were bulls around the ball but broke down in transition, particularly out of defence.
They lacked a link man. Daniel was just that.
Ardent Bulldog minds must wander to the bevy of precise deliveries Daniel has made to defuse danger.
When those little legs start pumping and Daniel gets the ball, you can just about bank on the Dogs winning the next possession.
There’s no waste. “And he did that to us on the ‘G about 3-4 times in really tight spaces,” Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says. Daniel’s footy brain is enormous, mind a steel trap for the next play. No matter how critical the moment, he simply makes the right decision.
It’s why David King sees a blend of Sam Mitchell and Brent Harvey when he watches Daniel.
King reckons those pinpoint 20m kicks can be just as important as long, penetrating passes.
So the Dogs knew Daniel’s frame wouldn’t matter and he was the missing ingredient in their team. Still, they wanted a killer attribute. One to set him apart.
When the draft combine rolled around, they found it. Weeks after playing in South Adelaide’s preliminary final, Daniel ran the beep test. As the last man to pull out at the elite level of 16.1, he was red in the face.
And after steadily warming throughout the year, the Dogs officially had the hots for him.
The beep test showed he had enormous aerobic capacity and the mental drive to match.
“A 13 beep isn’t good enough for that role,” chief recruiter Simon Dalrymple said on draft night
“But 16 is elite so we see that as a real point of difference.” Dogs coach Luke Beveridge loves Daniel’s creativity and the footprint he is leaving on wins. Those who tracked Daniel aren’t surprised. They say he is doing exactly what he did at underage level for the Bulldogs. Beveridge goes back to Round 3 as Daniel’s “significant day”. He was shifted onto Sam Mitchell and the scoreboard promptly shifted the Dogs’ way.
The next week Daniel would get a Rising Star nomination and Matthew Lloyd says if it was voted on today, the pipsqueak Bulldog should win it.
The bookies are starting to agree. Daniel has been crunched into a clear top three, along with No. 1 pick Jacob Weitering and No. 2 Petracca. And Champion Data backs it all up.
In Daniel’s position, he is producing better numbers than seasoned stars Brett Deledio, Toby Greene, Steve Johnson and Harvey. But it’s not just his short-kicking game cutting sides apart. Champion says Daniel’s long-kicking rating is +15 per cent — ranked No. 2 in the AFL. “We think we’ve got a bit of a steal there,” Beveridge said this week. A bit? The Dogs got Daniel with their last live pick, No. 46, which they received for Liam Jones.
Yet in drafting circles, that was considered early. About 10 clubs interviewed Daniel but if you ask South Adelaide coach Brad Gotch he’ll tell you the Dogs were the only genuine buyer. It’s why Daniel was nervous on draft night.
“I think every footballer has got that self-doubt in their head,” Daniel says. “I’d be lying if I said (missing out) didn’t dawn on my mind. “There was a lot of taller midfielders and taller forwards that were playing good footy.
“There was nerves when it got to about pick 40 because a few of my mates slid from South Australia from where they were mock drafted.”
But when Daniel’s name was called he became the smallest player drafted since Tony Liberatore, and the 1990 Brownlow winner called him straight away.
Liberatore saw a snippet of Daniel that year and alerted Dalrymple when they crossed paths. “If you’re good enough you can make it. I’ve always had that attitude,” Libba says. “He’s the modern-game player. He gets the ball, his agility is good, he uses the ball well, he can run and he can break lines.
“The kid’s got something. I’m rapt another little fella is playing AFL.”
Mum Karen gets teary when she reflects. “It’s always been David v Goliath,” she says, “because he’s always been the tiny fella. “He flies the flag for the little people.” Diminutive in stature, delightful to watch best sums up Caleb Daniel.
“We never thought of him being small. He’s a big man in a little fella’s body.”
CALEB DANIEL ON THAT HELMET
CALEB Daniel will wear the same helmet against Richmond as his first game of contact footy as a tiny junior more than 10 years ago. Mum Karen purchased the famous headgear when tackling was introduced and Daniel told the Herald Sun he was yet to replace it. “Mum said as soon as you get into the tackling and contact side of things I wouldn’t mind you chucking this on,” Daniel said.
“I thought nothing about it, just put it on and it stuck with me.
“I haven’t changed it yet. I’ve probably had a massive head from the age of seven through to now, it’s the same size I guess.” Karen says they didn’t make helmets small enough for Caleb at the time, but after a couple of modifications it was good to go. About twelve years on little has changed.
“He was always at that kind of elbow height where it’s easy to be whacked without even trying,” Karen said.
“It became part of his kit. The deal for him was I’d let him play up (an age group) when he was asked to, as long as he wore the helmet.”
Born in Queensland, Daniel’s first sporting love was rugby league and with Jonathan Thurston starting his career at the same time the helmet look was an easy sell.
Daniel is the only AFL player to wear a helmet by design and has no plans to start showing off his flowing locks on the footy field. “There’s a bit of rust, bit of blood, bit of sweat and a bit of tears in there,” he said.
“There’s a bit of sniff on it, I’m not a massive fan of washing it. “It doesn’t faze me too much, if it stinks I’ll wash it and if it smells all right it sticks around. “It just sits in my bag until gameday and then it goes on.”
But what happens if time finally catch up with Daniel’s black lid? “I’m not too fussed,” he said.
“If it doesn’t turn out and the helmet breaks, I don’t have to wear it anymore. It’s just something I’ve worn for 10-plus years and that’s all it’s been, it just instils that little bit of confidence.”