How good was.....Danny Southern?

[Dry Rot]

Sadly, I never saw Danny Southern play.

I have seen some video of a slight disagreement with Peter Sumich (what started that?) and a cameo role in "Year of the Dogs" about his multiple injuries.

Was he a FB or CHB?

What style, lockdown defender or counter attacking?

What good forward scalps did he take?

What modern day player is most like him?

Over to you.

[GVGjr]

He played KP out of necessity more than being a natural for it. Just a touch undersized for a KPP
He had good attacking instincts and liked to run off opponents.

Southern was a real character and would have been fun to play footy with. The choker hold on Sumich incident I think impacted him and sadly knee injuries took their toll.

Regarded as a tough nut.

[Dry Rot]

He played KP out of necessity more than being a natural for it. Just a touch undersized for a KPP
He had good attacking instincts and liked to run off opponents.

Southern was a real character and would have been fun to play footy with. The choker hold on Sumich incident I think impacted him and sadly knee injuries took their toll.

Regarded as a tough nut.

Thanks. What current/recent player is most like him?

[Rocket Science]

Another in the grand tradition of Bulldog backmen being asked to punch above their weight for the good of the team.

The Sumich incident stemmed from Steve Wallis burying sentient caricature Brett Heady with a hip and shoulder on the wing in Perth then the rest wrote itself, Southern was just flying the flag. Tune in at the 6:30 mark here for more context ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9bqLwwL-6E

Southern could play and had a rebounders instinct but his natural game was weighed down by a combination of chronic injury and the responsibility of having to perform jobs on troublesome, often bigger opponents. Not the smoothest mover but rangy with a knack for timely fists and gutsy as all get out if not quite the psycho bastard his 'Mad Max' stylings might've suggested. Then again, Sumich may beg to differ.

Reckon the nearest, most recent comparison is Zaine Cordy with a fraction more dash.

[Mofra]

Daniel (not Danny) Southern was hard as nails and had great concentration, he wasn't the sort to get caught daydreaming. His opponent earned every kick.

Not quite glove-like, but think of Dale Morris in moccasins - slightly undersized but still got the job done most of the time. Ruined by injury, should have played a lot more football. Certainly one of the most interesting blokes to ever pull on a bulldogs jumper. Was living in Egypt when the Arab Spring erupted.

[SonofScray]

The Cordy comparison is close enough I reckon, he is hard to pigeon hole. Better than the tough guy, rough lad stereotype would have you believe. Had a bit of attacking flair. Pretty decent, long clearing kick too, if I recall correctly.

We didn't see enough of his best.

[GVGjr]

The Cordy comparison is close enough I reckon, he is hard to pigeon hole. Better than the tough guy, rough lad stereotype would have you believe. Had a bit of attacking flair. Pretty decent, long clearing kick too, if I recall correctly.

We didn't see enough of his best.

Did Plough move hm to the forward line up against Sydney and he bagged a couple of goals. I seem to recall him making a real difference in a game against them. 3 or 4 marks up forward and a couple of goals in a half

[Remi Moses]

I thought he was wonderful
He clearly played with extreme discomfort in that knee
The reason west coast didn’t take him
Tough, great overhead , good kick and went a reasonable click
Played above his height , and sadly his career finished at 25

[Remi Moses]

Ripping good guy by all accounts
The look didn’t match the personality

[EasternWest]

Ripping good guy by all accounts
The look didn’t match the personality

Thoroughly decent humour and a real citizen of the world.

[Twodogs]

Thoroughly decent humour and a real citizen of the world.

I spoke to him at Selector's Table one night just before his first game. He was genuinely thrilled that he had landed at Footscray and had a huge smile on his face that he had been selected. Playing AFL seemed to be a real ambition of his. He came across as a really humble sort of guy who was happy to be playing at a "real football club" (his quote) and not a "corporate entity" (my quote) like West Coast.

The next time I heard him speak was again at a Selectors Table night just after the battle of Subiaco and Daniel had been fined $10 000 for his part in it which was more than he had been paid for the entire year. The supporters had taken up a collection and raised a little bit more than the ten large for him I think Peter Gordon got up and handed over the cheque and Daniel made a really nice speech as he accepted it.

[Twodogs]

Another in the grand tradition of Bulldog backmen being asked to punch above their weight for the good of the team.

The Sumich incident stemmed from Steve Wallis burying sentient caricature Brett Heady with a hip and shoulder on the wing in Perth then the rest wrote itself, Southern was just flying the flag. Tune in at the 6:30 mark here for more context ...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9bqLwwL-6E

Southern could play and had a rebounders instinct but his natural game was weighed down by a combination of chronic injury and the responsibility of having to perform jobs on troublesome, often bigger opponents. Not the smoothest mover but rangy with a knack for timely fists and gutsy as all get out if not quite the psycho bastard his 'Mad Max' stylings might've suggested. Then again, Sumich may beg to differ.

Reckon the nearest, most recent comparison is Zaine Cordy with a fraction more dash.

Heady had kicked 5 or 6 at a game at Whitten oval prior to that game. Each time he kicked a goal he ran past the bulldog defenders and yelled out "that's one, that's two and so on. You can see Wally lean over a prone Brett Heady and yell "that's one" into his face as he lays on the boundary line.

It was also an even up for the heroic actions of Worsfeld and his mates sniping Scott West playing his second or third game at Whitten oval that day. We owed them one. Then we got in front at the last match at Whitten oval.

[Prince Imperial]

Just noted that he got 12 Brownlow votes in his first season as a 19 year defender which is quite remarkable. A fine player who was unfortunately badly constrained by injury.

[GVGjr]

From memory both he and Koster spent an extra year at the state teams before coming over. Did Southern win a flag at Claremont in that year?

[1eyedog]

Danny was an awesome match up for Ablett Snr. I saw him completely nullify Ablett on two occasions at Kardinia Park. He was extremely attentive and was fantastic at anticipating how play would unfold up the field, and where his opponents would move to. He was a great spoiler and a traditional backman who always made his opponents earn it.

[GVGjr]

Just noted that he got 12 Brownlow votes in his first season as a 19 year defender which is quite remarkable. A fine player who was unfortunately badly constrained by injury.

Too right and nice pick up. Before the injury to his knee really started to limit him, Southern had played some good football especially early on.

[bornadog]

Being overseas in the 90s, I missed his career and only saw him on videos. I know he was missed sorely in the 1997 prelim, would have been handy.

[Prince Imperial]

His 1994 season was even more remarkable by the fact that in only his second game he was annihilated by peak Ablett who kicked 7.7 but that he recovered from that to have a fine season. The team was thrashed but I remember at the time being disgusted that he was thrown to the wolves.

I reckon it played in a part in Wheeler's sacking after the game, though in hindsight he was probably right as Southern had the character to recover from this.

[GVGjr]

His 1994 season was even more remarkable by the fact that in only his second game he was annihilated by peak Ablett who kicked 7.7 but that he recovered from that to have a fine season. The team was thrashed but I remember at the time being disgusted that he was thrown to the wolves.

I reckon it played in a part in Wheeler's sacking after the game, though in hindsight he was probably right as Southern had the character to recover from this.

I was working in the area 3 days a week back then and was at the club watching training when all that went down
I recall Wheels blamed Richard Osborne for the sacking but the loss against Geelong was the real catalyst

[Eastdog]

Can’t really comment too much about him as a player as I was just a kid back in the 90s but he is a great character. Played in a few EJ Whitten games over the years. He would be a cool guy to meet with some cool stories I reckon.

[jeemak]

He laid out big Alex Ishchenko in a game against North Melbourne in his first season with a cracking front on hip and shoulder that was within the rules at the time. Good effort for a first year player.

[merantau]

I loved the way Daniel Southern went about his football. He was very committed and battled serious injury throughout his truncated career. I remember at the end his kicking was seriously compromised by injury.