Past Daniel Dzufer (2007-2009)

Dzufer out to make the most of his long wait

Daniel Dzufer, wearing No.45 for the Brisbane Lions as a rookie this year, need only look a little way down the locker room to find a couple of reasons to be most optimistic about his future with the club.

At locker No.37 is Josh Drummond, a fellow Sunshine Coast product who is now an established and valued senior player after being overlooked in more AFL drafts than he would care to remember.

At No.30, from not too far away Kilcoy, is Robert Copeland, who also had his share of draft disappointment before coming off the rookie list to taste AFL premiership success in his very first season in 2001.

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Dzufer who was named on a half forward flank for the All-Australian under-18 side this year, was also a graduate of the AFL/AIS Academy program and should be closely watched by a number of AFL clubs at this years draft camp. This is not the first time Dzufer has attended the NAB AFL Draft Camp, in 2005 Daniel recorded some impressive testing results but was not picked up by an AFL club in the draft.

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Dzufer attended last year’s draft camp and said that experience had helped him deal with the rigours of the gruelling regime this time round.

“I knew what to expect after last year, which helped,” Dzufer said. “I knew what to say during the interviews and how to manage myself.

“It was pretty tough physically, but this year I was able to keep myself fresh for each of the fitness activities.”

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Coast AFL juniors snapped up by Lions and Dockers

Sunshine Coast Daily
13.12.06
By TOBY WALKER

TWO of the Sunshine Coast's footballing young guns are a crucial step closer to proving themselves at the highest level after being picked up in the AFL rookie draft yesterday.

It was better late than never for Caloundra juniors Daniel Dzufer and Chris Smith, who received rookie contracts with AFL clubs in the last round of player selections before the 2007 season.

Touted as one of the country's most promising young players and considered unlucky to have missed out on the National Draft for the last two years, Dzufer, 18, will finally get his chance to show people the hype was well founded after he was the Brisbane Lions's third selection in the rookie draft.

Dzufer had reason to be confident of the call-up after being asked to join the Lions' pre-season training last week.

But while Dzufer can settle into the Lions' den from the relative comfort of his Mooloolaba home, Smith will have to relocate from Little Mountain to the other side of the country to realise his AFL dream.

Smith, also 18, will become the first Queensland player to be taken by a West Australian club after Fremantle snapped him up from Brisbane club Mt Gravatt with their first selection in the rookie draft.

Smith will fly to Perth next week to meet his new team mates and join their pre-season training before he moves there permanently early in the New Year.

Smith said it was daunting to think there might be some expectation on him being the first Queenslander to head west, but as a life-long Collingwood fan he was looking forward to playing and training alongside former Collingwood star Chris Tarrant and respected players like All-Australian Matthew Pavlich and Peter Bell.

"I'm very happy, very happy indeed," he said.

"There's definitely a lot of hard work ahead but (Fremantle) is a club that's been on the rise in the last few years and played finals football, so it's a club that’s going places and that’s exciting."

Dzufer said being selected by the Lions was the next best thing to being picked in the National Draft.

"I was pretty confident after what (the Lions) had told me but nothing was a certainty, I'd found that out missing out in the draft the two years," he said.

"Now it's just about putting my head down during the pre-season, working on getting elevated to the senior list and then playing well if I get there."

But yesterday’s rookie draft didn’t bring good news for all of the Sunshine Coast's hopefuls. After being drafted by Essendon last year but then delisted at the end of the 2006 season, Austin Lucy was not given another chance for 2007 while Brody Johnson also missed out.

The rookie draft enables clubs to list players between 18 and 23 years, with the option to upgrade them to the primary list during the season.

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Daniel Dzufer - Queensland - 186cm, 81kg, Zillmere Eagles
A left-footer midfielder/forward, Dzufer can find space and is strong overhead. He averaged eight marks per match during the championships, along with 19 possessions.

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DANIEL DZUFER

AFL Footballer - Brisbane Lions

At a Glance

From: Sunshine Coast
Born: 21 January 1988
Height: 187cm
Weight: 84kg

Key Statistics

Recruited from: Zillmere Eagles / Suncoast Lions / Caloundra
Draft Details: Priority Selection - 2006 AFL rookie draft
AFL Debut: -
AFL Games : -
AFL Goals: -

Snapshot

Daniel Dzufer is a multi-talented, much-decorated utility player who survived a succession of hard knocks and rejection to win a 2006 rookie list spot with the Brisbane Lions - and is absolutely determined to make the most of it. After a stellar junior career laden with individual recognition he missed selection at the 2005 and '06 AFL national drafts but got his opportunity as a Queensland priority selection in the '06 rookie draft.

Background


Daniel Dzufer, wearing No.45 for the Brisbane Lions as a rookie this year, need only look a little way down the locker room to find a couple of reasons to be most optimistic about his future with the club.

At locker No.37 is Josh Drummond, a fellow Sunshine Coast product who is now an established and valued senior player after being overlooked in more AFL drafts than he would care to remember.

At No.30, from not too far away Kilcoy, is Robert Copeland, who also had his share of draft disappointment before coming off the rookie list to taste AFL premiership success in his very first season in 2001.

Also, at No.32 he'll find his former Zillmere teammate Cheynee Stiller. In No.29 is Jason Roe, in No.26 is Joel Macdonald, in No.5 is Scott Harding and in No.43 is Marcus Allan. Four more graduates of the Lions rookie list.

Indeed, the development nursery that is the rookie list, has been a veritable gold mine for the club that won an AFL premiership hat-trick in 2001-02-03 with what is widely regarded as the best team of all-time.

Of 18 players rookie-listed by the Lions since the introduction of rookies in 1988 until 2006 no less than 18 have played AFL football. Of those, Drummond, Copeland, Stiller, Roe, Macdonald and Allan are senior list players with Brisbane in 2007, and four others - Trent Knobel (Richmond), Daniel Pratt (Kangaroos), Travis Baird (W/Bulldogs) and Marty Pask (W/Bulldogs) - are still playing with other AFL clubs.

Stiller, Roe, Pask, Harding and Irishman Colm Begley made their AFL debut in 2006 after starting the season as rookies in what was an AFL record for mid-season rookie 'conversions'.

But it's not as if the Lions have a stranglehold in successful rookie list graduates. It's something that has spread throughout the competition since Mal Michael, then at Collingwood, later a triple premiership ace with Brisbane, and now at Essendon, became the first AFL rookie to play at senior level.

How's this for a team?

B: Daniel Ward, Mal Michael, Matthew Bishop;
HB: James McDonald, Ben Rutten, Tadgh Kennelly;
C: Mark Johnson, Chad Fletcher, Nathan Lovett-Murray;
HF: Tarkyn Lockyer, Russell Robertson, Danyle Pearce;
F: Aaron Davey, Quentin Lynch, Kent Kingsley;
R: Dean Cox, Brett Kirk, Shane Tuck;
INT: Aaron Sandilands, Mark Nicoski, Robert Copeland, Nathan Bassett.

Every member of this side, littered with premierships, club B&F trophies, All-Australian jumpers, 100-game certificates and other awards, began their AFL career as a rookie.

And there are many, many others who wouldn't be out of place in a similarly fictitious line-up.

Dzufer, like fellow 2007 Lions rookie list newcomers Scott Clouston, Joel Tippett and Haydn Kiel, is not so far from AFL selection that it should be seen like an impossible dream.

Already Dzufer has done the hard yards in just getting himself into contention. The brilliant junior from Sunshine Coast Grammar has spent three seasons in the AFLQ State League - two as a top-up player with the Suncoast Lions, and one with the Zillmere Eagles as a key contributor to a genuine flag contender.

He is coming off an outstanding 2006 campaign in which he won All-Australian honors at his second national U18 carnival, had a brilliant AFLQ finals series with the Eagles, was nominated for the AFLQ Rising Star Award, and was a standout in the annual Allies v Victoria U18 challenge match in Melbourne in AFL grand final week.

And all that after he toured Ireland with the AFL/AIS U17 Academy side for the Youth International Rules series in 2005, and won the division two B&F medal at the 2004 Australian U16 championships.

For a player who didn't start playing football until he was 12 in 2000 he's squeezed an awful lot into his apprenticeship . For full details of the long wait worthwhile , click here.

But now, having left the comforts of home to share a flat in Brisbane with Kiel as he follows his dream, he's determined to make the most of his belated opportunity. Just as Drummond and Copeland and others have done.

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Three-km time-trial
Tim Houlihan - 9:37 mins
Simon Hogan - 9:55 mins
Shane Edwards - 10:00 mins
James Thomson - 10:13 mins
Daniel Dzufer - 10:14 mins
Bachar Houli - 10:23 mins
Brent Renouf - 10:27 mins
Will Schofield - 10:34 mins
Haydyn Kiel - 10:35 mins
David Armitage/Jarryn Geary - 10:36 mins

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Grimreepah said:

At draft camp Dzufer tested 5th fastest at the 3km time trial

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Lions rookie busted trying to help mates


22.03.2006
by PETER GARDINER

HE might have the AFL world at his feet but 18-year-old Sunshine Coast star Daniel Dzufer first has to deal with the drink-driving charge hanging over his head. The Suncoast Lions star was considered unlucky not to have been picked up by one of the football clubs in last year's AFL draft, with his tender age given as the most likely reason for having to cool his heels in reserve grade for another year.
But Dzufer, of Mooloolaba, will have to hitch a lift to training for a lengthy period if he pleads guilty in the Maroochy Magistrates Court on April 7.
Police allegedly picked him up for driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.132 in Mooloolaba.
The court will be told that the 189cm, 80kg standout at the AFL draft camp was driving along River Esplanade on a probationary licence, which required him to have a zero alcohol level.
This was after police were called to the Wharf Tavern in response to a fight.
Police will allege that a group of men matching the descriptions of persons they wanted to question over the incident were later seen getting into a white Landcruiser in Brisbane Road.
When a patrol pulled the vehicle over, Dzufer allegedly was the driver.
Dzufer was not present in court yesterday – ironically on a day when the senior Brisbane Lions were on the Coast to hold coaching clinics and meet their fans.
His legal representative, Chelsea Emery, said Dzufer could not appear because of busy work commitments but said he would be pleading guilty at his next appearance.
Last night, the footballer was apologetic over the incident. "It was one of those things. My mates were in a bit of trouble and I was just trying to get them out of there," he told the Daily.
The Queensland AFL highlighted his star potential after he snapped a 45m left foot goal in a rousing Suncoast Lions 18-point victory over a strong Southport side.
AFL clubs like Carlton are aware of Dzufer's ability with this pre-draft appraisal on their website: "Dzufer is a left-footed wingman who won the McLean Medal at last year's NAB Under-18 Championships. Smart around goal, he was a AIS-AFL and Queensland under-18 representative in 2005."

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Dzufer has been in scintillating form with the Suncoast Lions and earned his elevation to the senior list. He fills the vacant senior spot left by Pat Garner who is currently on the long-term injury list.

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lionsrock9 said:

I did'nt think that the Brisbane coaching stuff ever read this threads. Now I know that they do.

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Dzufer stars in upset win
18.06.2007

FORMER Caloundra junior Daniel Dzufer celebrated his elevation to the Brisbane Lions senior list by leading the Suncoast to an upset win at Southport on Saturday afternoon.

The 19-year-old was named in the 25-man Brisbane squad to play Geelong yesterday, but was left out of the travelling party as the Lions had already committed to one debutant in Albert Proud and didnt want to throw too many youngsters into the fray against the table-topping Cats.

Rather than be disappointed, Dzufer used the AFLQ Velocity Sports Cup clash against the dual reigning premiers to press his claims for a berth in the Lions side to play Port Adelaide in two weeks' time, after next weekend's bye.

Suncoast jumped Southport early, but had a fight on their hands as the home side came storming back to level scores at halftime.

Suncoast again broke clear in the third term and hung tough in the last to register just its third win over the Sharks in the last 10 meetings, winning 14.11 (95) to 11.14 (80).

Dzufer was strong in defence all day, while SA teenager Chris Schmidt was just as important up forward.

Suncoast lost talented teenager Matt Tyler, who alongside Dzufer was vying for a senior debut, with a hamstring strain 10 minutes into the game.

Noosa youngster Nathan Lavis was mobbed by team-mates midway through the final term when he snapped a brilliant goal to put the result out of reach.

It was his second goal for the game.

"Lavis started a bit slowly, but once he got into the groove he did some good things, and his last goal was a ripper," said coach Craig Brittain.

"Dzufer was very good for us - he has been very consistent."

Suncoast has now won five of its 10 games and sits one match and percentage clear in fifth place although it has a bye next weekend when Broadbeach has the chance to draw level on points.

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lionsrock9 said:

I did'nt think that the Brisbane coaching stuff ever read this threads. Now I know that they do.

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Grimreepah said:

Dzufer can thank Lucky Luke for his promotion

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Quigley said:

Congrats to Dan. Good to see the first of this year's rookies stepping up and making their presence felt.

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Daniel in dream of lifetime

Nick Smart
29Jun07


SUNSHINE Coast product Daniel Dzufer is set to become the seventh Queenslander to make his AFL debut this season after been named to face Port Adelaide at the Gabba tomorrow night.
The cub was elevated from Brisbane's rookie list a fortnight ago to become eligible for senior selection.
The 19-year-old, recruited from Zillmere at the end of last season, was shocked yesterday when he received the word.
"I am absolutely rapt -- it as the fulfilment of a life-time dream," he said.
"It is what you play for to play at the highest level.
"Ever since I started playing footy in the under-12s at Caloundra in 1999, I guess I have dreamed of this opportunity."
Dzufer admitted it has been a bumpy road along the way for him.
The left-footed utility was overlooked in last year's draft, despite being named as an All-Australian selection after the under-18 national championships.
The Lions, however, saw something in him and decided to place him on the club's rookie list.
He has worked hard and been in good form for the Suncoast Lions -- which has prompted his call up.
"It has been a bit of a mixed journey and there were some times when it didn't look so good," he said. "But I've just tried to stick and it, work hard and earn my chance.
"I'm happy it has come at a time when I feel confident that I'm playing well. Now, I've just got to take my good form in the reserves into the seniors."
Dzufer joins clubmate Albert Proud, St Kilda pair David Armitage and Brad Howard, Melbourne's Ricky Petterd and Bulldogs Tom Williams and Jarrod Harbrow in the class of Queenslanders to have made it to the elite level (AFL) this year.

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Dzufer gets his chance

29.06.2007
Caloundra teenager Daniel Dzufer will take the final step down a sometimes bumpy path to the AFL by making his senior debut with the Brisbane Lions against Port Adelaide at the Gabba tomorrow night.

Dzufer will become the fourth Sunshine Coast product to play AFL football with the Brisbane club, following in the footsteps of Jason Millar, Nathan Clarke and Josh Drummond.

And for the first time, two Sunshine Coasters - Drummond and Dzufer - will play together in the same side.

Dzufer, elevated from the Lions rookie list a fortnight ago to become eligible for senior selection, was "absolutely rapt" when he got the good news late yesterday, describing it as "the fulfilment of a lifetime dream".

"It's what you play for - to play at the highest level,' he said.

"Ever since I started playing footy in the under-12s at Caloundra in 1999, I guess I've dreamed of this opportunity.

"It's been a bit of a mixed journey and there were some times when it didnt look so good but I've just tried to stick at it, work hard and earn my chance.

"I'm happy it has come at a time when I feel confident that I'm playing well and now I've just got to take my good form in the reserves into the seniors."

Dzufer was identified as a likely AFL player in 2004 when he won the division two best and fairest medal at the national under-16 championships and toured Ireland with the AFL/AIS under-17 academy side in 2005.

But despite winning All-Australian selection after last year's national under-18 championships and playing a key role for the Zillmere Eagles in an AFLQ campaign which went all the way to the grand final he was overlooked at the draft.

Instead, Dzufer got his opportunity via the rookie list, just as Clarke and Drummond did, and has trained with the Lions since just before Christmas, sharing a flat with fellow rookie Haydn Kiel.

After being named as the Suncoast Lions' best player for three straight weeks in the AFLQ State League, he was named in a Lions 25-man match squad for their last outing against Geelong at Geelong a fortnight ago but missed the final cut.

Not so this week.

According to Alastair Lynch, former Lions co-captain and now part of Dzufer's management company, Velocity Sports, the slick left-footer's selection is a reward for perseverance.

"He's been terrific. He could have dropped his bundle when things didn't quite go according to plan but he knew you usually only get one crack at it so he worked really hard and has earned his chance.

"It's a real credit to him," Lynch said.

Ron Macdonald

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The Brisbane Lions have shown confidence in the abilities of Daniel Dzufer to offer him a second year on their rookie list after he made his senior debut in his first year, playing one game.

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