Player Watch #5: Caleb Daniel - Welcome to North Melbourne - NM trade R2(25) for CD

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We never overpaid for ahern, he may have underdelivered but cost nothing.
Pick 69!!

We could have had Nick Larkey instead!

Don't think we overpaid for JY either. Better than pick 1 that year. He'd easily be in the top ten players from that draft, picked outside the top 10.
 
Spoke to a few Bulldogs mates today. They reckon he is still ok and will play good footy for us. Obviously we sort of payed overs but if we can get 2-3 seasons of close to his best football then it will have been worth it.
Be nice to get 5 seasons and 100 games out of him!

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I’m a bit confused why the general consensus is we paid overs with pick 25. I would have thought a player that has proven All-Australian caliber ability, no off-field red flags, leadership credentials, BnF in a successful year, no injury concerns, at a prime age of 28 would have demanded at the very least a pick in the early 20’s?

We could have given a future 2nd or 3rd, but if the Dogs wanted picks this year, what else are we going to give them?

If he didn’t have a down year this year, we would have paid way more than pick 25. I’d say we got him at his prime age at the best possible buying time.

And hallelujah a proper half back not a repurposed one.
 
I’m a bit confused why the general consensus is we paid overs with pick 25. I would have thought a player that has proven All-Australian caliber ability, no off-field red flags, leadership credentials, BnF in a successful year, no injury concerns, at a prime age of 28 would have demanded at the very least a pick in the early 20’s?

We could have given a future 2nd or 3rd, but if the Dogs wanted picks this year, what else are we going to give them?

If he didn’t have a down year this year, we would have paid way more than pick 25. I’d say we got him at his prime age at the best possible buying time.

And hallelujah a proper half back not a repurposed one.
There is an argument, which is valid.. lacking strong defensive attributes and pace. However, Daniel will be fine, will surprise a lot of people round ere and 100% be an important leader for our backline
 
At only 28 and with a relatively clean injury history, I think it's fair to expect the 2019 to 2022 version of Caleb Daniel to show up. Especially as a lot of his best attributes such as his kicking and vision aren't going anywhere.

In 2023 the Bulldogs moved Daniel further up the ground, as a sweeping midfielder, and then in 2024 he obviously had troubles sticking in the side. It's a similar story here to Shaun Higgins, who clearly had great footy left in the tank when we recruited him, but needed a team to play him in his best position.

The question to ask is why the Bulldogs didn't want Caleb Daniel in their backline. The answer is in part due to his obvious defensive limitations. The other thing to question is if the trending style of long fast ball movement has put less value on the typical short/medium precise kicking of Daniel.

They are fair things to question, however, while we build and develop our young group of defenders to hopefully both aggressively rebound and defend well (Josh Goater, Riley Hardeman, Brayden George, and Jackson Archer), Daniel is a great stop gap who will undoubtedly improve our side. Is he perfect, no, but he is a massive upgrade on what we have and I firmly believe you can still have a winning side with Caleb Daniel off half back.

It's not hard to see why Clarkson was a fan, as his dynastic Hawks were built around kicks like Daniel. With how much our half backs have been accumulating recently, you can likely pencil Daniel in to average close to thirty touches a game in his old role, and with his kicking that represents a ton of value.

The more I think about the trade, the more I'm excited by it. He isn't a perfect player, but you look at guys like Zac Fisher, Bailey Scott, and Darcy Tucker, and it's obvious that we've upgraded a ton.
 
I’m a bit confused why the general consensus is we paid overs with pick 25. I would have thought a player that has proven All-Australian caliber ability, no off-field red flags, leadership credentials, BnF in a successful year, no injury concerns, at a prime age of 28 would have demanded at the very least a pick in the early 20’s?

We could have given a future 2nd or 3rd, but if the Dogs wanted picks this year, what else are we going to give them?

If he didn’t have a down year this year, we would have paid way more than pick 25. I’d say we got him at his prime age at the best possible buying time.

And hallelujah a proper half back not a repurposed one.
I’d say him not being in the bulldogs best 22 is a red flag.

Him being a defender who can’t defend one-on-one because of his stature is a red flag too.

I think a lot of planning and team structures will go into Caleb not getting exposed defensively. I hope his distribution off hb will be worth it.

We have no idea how he will cope playing in a poor team.
 

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Has defensive deficiencies that ultimately put him out of favour with Bevs new frantic running gameplan (same as Macrae), but at his best he is an evasive and cool headed distributer in chaotic environment. pinpoint 35m chip kicks are his go. He will reward other players for running to good spots. Also a terrific clubman.
 
For all the middle eastern North friends out there, they will be full of joy to welcome Caleb to the team.

Not just because he's a good player but because Caleb in a certain language has a certain meaning...
 
At only 28 and with a relatively clean injury history, I think it's fair to expect the 2019 to 2022 version of Caleb Daniel to show up. Especially as a lot of his best attributes such as his kicking and vision aren't going anywhere.

In 2023 the Bulldogs moved Daniel further up the ground, as a sweeping midfielder, and then in 2024 he obviously had troubles sticking in the side. It's a similar story here to Shaun Higgins, who clearly had great footy left in the tank when we recruited him, but needed a team to play him in his best position.

The question to ask is why the Bulldogs didn't want Caleb Daniel in their backline. The answer is in part due to his obvious defensive limitations. The other thing to question is if the trending style of long fast ball movement has put less value on the typical short/medium precise kicking of Daniel.

They are fair things to question, however, while we build and develop our young group of defenders to hopefully both aggressively rebound and defend well (Josh Goater, Riley Hardeman, Brayden George, and Jackson Archer), Daniel is a great stop gap who will undoubtedly improve our side. Is he perfect, no, but he is a massive upgrade on what we have and I firmly believe you can still have a winning side with Caleb Daniel off half back.

It's not hard to see why Clarkson was a fan, as his dynastic Hawks were built around kicks like Daniel. With how much our half backs have been accumulating recently, you can likely pencil Daniel in to average close to thirty touches a game in his old role, and with his kicking that represents a ton of value.

The more I think about the trade, the more I'm excited by it. He isn't a perfect player, but you look at guys like Zac Fisher, Bailey Scott, and Darcy Tucker, and it's obvious that we've upgraded a ton.
In 2023 he was fourth in their B&F too.
 
I’d say him not being in the bulldogs best 22 is a red flag.

Him being a defender who can’t defend one-on-one because of his stature is a red flag too.

I think a lot of planning and team structures will go into Caleb not getting exposed defensively. I hope his distribution off hb will be worth it.

We have no idea how he will cope playing in a poor team.
His defensive limitation is due to his height. In a one on one marking situation we are definitely going to have a problem.

From what I’ve seen though, he is a strong contested player when the ball is in dispute and his tackling and pressure around the ball is not a weakness.

As long as our defenders stay fit we have three decent tall defenders that are decent enough in one on ones (Logue, Comben & Corr), and we have a strong lockdown small / medium (Archer).

Our major weakness inside 50 is when the ball hits the deck. Besides Sheezel, I generally crap my pants in those situations. We are outnumbered more times than other teams when we are able to get the ball to ground, and when we’re not, I pray for our exit kicks.

Other Dog contributors have pointed out his strength is his ability to get to those ground contests before his opponents and then be able to cleanly distribute out of chaos.

So while maybe he may not be worth pick 25 to other teams, I personally feel to us he is worth at least that. You can’t predict the future, but this trade makes sense from a needs perspective.

Hardeman and Bergman don’t currently have anyone substantially experienced and highly credentialed to learn off in terms of half back craft. I’d say they do now.
 
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At only 28 and with a relatively clean injury history, I think it's fair to expect the 2019 to 2022 version of Caleb Daniel to show up. Especially as a lot of his best attributes such as his kicking and vision aren't going anywhere.

In 2023 the Bulldogs moved Daniel further up the ground, as a sweeping midfielder, and then in 2024 he obviously had troubles sticking in the side. It's a similar story here to Shaun Higgins, who clearly had great footy left in the tank when we recruited him, but needed a team to play him in his best position.

The question to ask is why the Bulldogs didn't want Caleb Daniel in their backline. The answer is in part due to his obvious defensive limitations. The other thing to question is if the trending style of long fast ball movement has put less value on the typical short/medium precise kicking of Daniel.

They are fair things to question, however, while we build and develop our young group of defenders to hopefully both aggressively rebound and defend well (Josh Goater, Riley Hardeman, Brayden George, and Jackson Archer), Daniel is a great stop gap who will undoubtedly improve our side. Is he perfect, no, but he is a massive upgrade on what we have and I firmly believe you can still have a winning side with Caleb Daniel off half back.

It's not hard to see why Clarkson was a fan, as his dynastic Hawks were built around kicks like Daniel. With how much our half backs have been accumulating recently, you can likely pencil Daniel in to average close to thirty touches a game in his old role, and with his kicking that represents a ton of value.

The more I think about the trade, the more I'm excited by it. He isn't a perfect player, but you look at guys like Zac Fisher, Bailey Scott, and Darcy Tucker, and it's obvious that we've upgraded a ton.
Well said.

I think there's a strong chance he just got Bevo'd. Remember this is the same coach who decided to play Libba as a small forward for a while.

Reckon CD arrives with a chip on his shoulder.

Go well little fella (I'm short. He's almost the only footballer I can say that too)
 
His defensive limitation is due to his height. In a one on one marking situation we are definitely going to have a problem.

From what I’ve seen though, he is a strong contested player when the ball is in dispute and his tackling and pressure around the ball is not a weakness.

As long as our defenders stay fit we have three decent tall defenders that are decent enough in one on ones (Logue, Comben & Corr), and we have a strong lockdown small / medium (Archer).

Our major weakness inside 50 is when the ball hits the deck. Besides Sheezel, I generally crap my pants in those situations. We are outnumbered more times than other teams when we are able to get the ball to ground, and when we’re not, I pray for our exit kicks.

Other Dog contributors have pointed out his strength is his ability to get to those ground contests before his opponents and then be able to cleanly distribute out of chaos.

So while maybe he may not be worth pick 25 to other teams, I personally feel to us he is worth at least that. You can predict the future, but this trade makes sense from a needs perspective.

Hardeman and Bergman don’t currently have anyone substantially experienced and highly credentialed to learn off in terms of half back craft. I’d say they do now.
We need a distributor down there. He'll also help the team set up defensively.

He'll get exposed if we don't improve defensively all over the field. The whole backline will.

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His defensive limitation is due to his height. In a one on one marking situation we are definitely going to have a problem.

From what I’ve seen though, he is a strong contested player when the ball is in dispute and his tackling and pressure around the ball is not a weakness.

As long as our defenders stay fit we have three decent tall defenders that are decent enough in one on ones (Logue, Comben & Corr), and we have a strong lockdown small / medium (Archer).

Our major weakness inside 50 is when the ball hits the deck. Besides Sheezel, I generally crap my pants in those situations. We are outnumbered more times than other teams when we are able to get the ball to ground, and when we’re not, I pray for our exit kicks.

Other Dog contributors have pointed out his strength is his ability to get to those ground contests before his opponents and then be able to cleanly distribute out of chaos.

So while maybe he may not be worth pick 25 to other teams, I personally feel to us he is worth at least that. You can predict the future, but this trade makes sense from a needs perspective.

Hardeman and Bergman don’t currently have anyone substantially experienced and highly credentialed to learn off in terms of half back craft. I’d say they do now.
Some good points about the contested ground ball. I think I’m starting to hate this trade less.

Giving up 25 was a kick in the nads initially, but the swelling is starting to subside.
 
He was ranked elite for pressure acts and above average for tackles in 2021 while being involved in just one 1v1 contest for every two games.

Seems like there are ways to hide his 1v1 issues.
Not sure they need hiding as much as people are carrying on would suggest.

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Player Watch #5: Caleb Daniel - Welcome to North Melbourne - NM trade R2(25) for CD

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