To counter the counter -
Role is not as expected/ not getting as many kick outs as assumed - dogs preferring to have guys who kick it longer rather than his chip kicks.
How much of this is actually true?
Round 1 -
Kick-ins (play on): Caleb Daniel 6 (5), Bailey Dale 3 (3), Taylor Duryea 1 (1), Bailey Williams 1 (1).
Round 2 -
Kick-ins (play on): Caleb Daniel 5 (5), Taylor Duryea 2 (2), Bailey Dale 1 (0), Bailey Williams 1 (1).
Round 3 -
Kick-ins (play on): Claeb Daniel 6 (5), Taylor Duryea 2 (1), Bailey Dale 1 (1).
Round 4 -
Kick-ins (play on): Bailey Dale 2 (2), Caleb Daniel 2 (1), Alex Keath 1 (0), Taylor Duryea 1 (1).
So Daniel has lead the kick in stats for every game bar last week where Brisbane only kicked 6 behinds for a game.
Has now shown he is very susceptible to the fwd tag so expect it will happen again.
Won't deny this but we've also seen that Dogs still won without an issue regardless of whether Daniel had any input into the game or not so teams might not see the value in tagging someone if it doesn't help them actually win a game. I'd also like to see whether he can bounce back from it as I'm sure teams have tried in the past.
With poor back rookie bench coverage - Highmore/ Sharp/ Kosi, many are looking at a possible zero if they don’t move him on. Can trade in Jones but he isn’t on the bubble this week so there is always that risk in him getting dropped next week or gets injured so get stuck with a player that generates no money (unlikely I know as Jones looks very good but is a possibility).
I suppose I'm banking on Kosi coming in for Lewis who will miss a game through suspension and I also only put in a 35 point score to keep expectations very low. Would also say if you've got 3 of Highmore/Sharp/Kosi you're probably still better off long term moving them into something over fixing a 1 week problem as the above problem won't suddenly disappear.
Don’t think he will be a top 8 defender - so many other defenders are showing all the signs that they will be a top 8 defender so far whilst Daniel hasn’t. Ridley/ Laird/ Short/ Mills/ Lloyd/ Bowes/ Docherty & Houston possibly all look more likely at this stage. Such a strong group/ more great options than other position this year - holding Daniel for the rest of the year instead of taking one of the other options listed could leave you well behind the pack.
Again, I think this is an over-reaction for mine.
Last two years Daniel has put up a 99 and a 101 average. Currently there are 13 players with a average of 99+, of that 13 I'd remove Lever, Hartley, Jiath as guys that are unproven/not going to maintain it. Pretty happy to put Houli in that bracket too just due to age and inability to play an entire season.
Currently has a group of 9 players - Ridley, Bowes, Houston, Mills, Short, Lloyd, Laird, Rich and Doch. Bowes, Houston and Rich have never hit these numbers before, Rich at 31 I see being 90s odd but not the 100+ so you're taking a bit of a risk/gamble on the other 2.
Now that's not to say others that currently not within this 99 bracket won't push up to it, but there isn't a massive list/or at least a massive list going well over this 100 mark.
Back to Daniel:
Round 1 he scored 107 - happy days.
Round 2 he scored 66 - 26 touches at 80% disposal efficiency, I can't help but feel that's a pretty unfortunate score.
Round 3 he scored 96 - That's a tick.
So in his first 3 rounds he's averaged 28 touches, 16 kicks, a touch under 5 marks and a bit over 2 tackles a game. What is there not to like about that stat line? I don't think anyone is honestly saying he's not showing the same signs he's shown in the previous couple of years or not in an expected role. The panic is purely from a single game where he's had a mare and had absolutely no impact on the game. Now I get why that would be a huge off-put and a worry but I think he's earned himself enough credits over the past couple of seasons to warrant sticking with him after one ****house performance.
I'm not in the 100% must keep boat but unless I'm somehow using his cash to turn into a guy like Gawn, I'm going to stick with him. Moving him over to a guy who might average 10 more points a season which will cost a trade and cash whilst I have plenty of other areas to better improve my average points gained per round, I just don't see this as the right move.