Training 2026 Pre Season & Training Reports

[Chadwiko]

Caleb wasn't as bad in 2025 as some people on BigFooty want you to believe he was.

 

[King Corey]

I like Caleb Daniel.

Thanks Alastair.

 

[Chip Scab1]

I like Caleb Daniel.

What do you like? His haircut before he helmets himself?

Just the general cut of his gib? The fact that we save money by only having to provide him with a new child's jumper weekly, saving the nmfc approximately $2k a year.

I'm putting it down as a win.

 

[Waynesworld]

Thanks Alastair.

I've got to defend my decision to recruit him anywhere I can

 

[Waynesworld]

What do you like? His haircut before he helmets himself?

Just the general cut of his gib? The fact that we save money by only having to provide him with a new child's jumper weekly, saving the nmfc approximately $2k a year.

I'm putting it down as a win.

He is a good-looking rooster

 

[Chip Scab1]

He is a good-looking rooster

Haha he certainly is, NTTAWWT. Why go for the T Bone when the Scotch/Eye Fillet is available.

 

[Sphynx]

Caleb wasn't as bad in 2025 as some people on BigFooty want you to believe he was.

For sure,

I think he gets off easy, clearly by the coaches based on his B&F finish.

He kicked with two left feet for most of the year.

The first half of round 1, against his old side was a ripper.

Set the tone for the year hitting the 3rd row of the crowd on the wing a few times a game and grubbers along the ground.

 

[shimaburnsgrieg]

Why do we need Caleb in defence if we have Colby FOS and hardamen? Surely all 3 are ahead?I can’t say of those 3 pushing to the midfield and wings given our stocks there so not sure Caleb is a guaranteed start.

Clarko and the coaching staff have apparently made the decision to 'refine' our defensive structure/set up for next year.

An important part of this decision will also be the 7 personnel who occupy the back 6 spots.

Clarko had a certain game plan in mind when he recruited Daniel - he now (belatedly) recognises he got the game plan wrong. The issue will be whether he is also perceptive enough to conclude that he no longer needs Daniel in the defence given the emergence of Kerch, FOS and Hardeman.

For mine I think Daniel will be in the Round 1 side - he will be the 7th defender. But he will be out of the side by mid year - just overtaken by better equipped players.

We will see this also happen in the forward line as Trembath and Doveston come on and in the midfield as per Jy getting placed on the wing.

This is all positive and we just need to get on with it.

 

[Themanbun]

This is on the coaching staff and system's isn't it?

He wouldn't be going rogue and doing what he wanted, he'd be playing to instruction.

Plenty of players go rogue and don't get dropped. It's on the coaching staff as far as they haven't dropped him.

 

[winalotroos]

OMG, there’s a lot of chatter about this Danial fella anyone would think he was the next Wayne Carey ( just shorter and a shit kick ) I bet last season he was just practicing for this season

 

[King Corey]

Haha he certainly is, NTTAWWT. Why go for the T Bone when the Scotch/Eye Fillet is available.

He reminds me of a mate's comment on Mariah Carey in the 90s.

To the effect of:

"Some days she's hot, other days she looks like Nick Holland"

 

[Shagga is all Class]

Caleb wasn't as bad in 2025 as some people on BigFooty want you to believe he was.

People are in denial about Daniel, which includes Clarko.

He was better than Zac Fisher, so of course they had to double down and play Daniel no matter what.

Personally, I had hope when Hardeman took the kick outs against Collingwood? and Daniel was 35-40 out on the boundary.

It didn’t last for some reason.

Daniel wasn’t as bad as people make out though.

See how he goes if Simpkin, Stephens, Powell and Scott actually get on their bike this year.

 

[ferball]

He is a good-looking bantum rooster

FTFY

 

[ferball]

Plenty of players go rogue and don't get dropped. It's on the coaching staff as far as they haven't dropped him.

Do they tho?

When Logue and Corr were dropped they were publicly called out as being dropped for not following the game plan properly.

 

[Themanbun]

Do they tho?

When Logue and Corr were dropped they were publicly called out as being dropped for not following the game plan properly.

Yeah when the replacements aren't available coaches tend to tolerate it. Not saying it's the case with Caleb as he polled well, but it's why depth of squad is important.

 

[spurs]

Daniel wasn’t great for most of the year, BUT he did play very well in the last 3 rounds. Kingy also mentioned that he is putting his body on the line and getting into good positions on the field which wasn’t happening. I’m willing to give him the first few rounds of next year.

 

[shinboner magic]

For sure,

I think he gets off easy, clearly by the coaches based on his B&F finish.

He kicked with two left feet for most of the year.

The first half of round 1, against his old side was a ripper.

Set the tone for the year hitting the 3rd row of the crowd on the wing a few times a game and grubbers along the ground.

My Daniel moment of the year was when kicking out from Fb - he plays on and changes direction 4-5 times with hardly leaving the goal square, then turns it over.
Only thing missing was the Benny hill music

No more of this turnip

 

[FlyHigh18]

gee, I wonder who that could be in the middle there with some decent stats

 

[DuckYeah]

IMO Daniel suffered from doing everything possible to get the handball receive for himself rather than actually playing contests on their merit.

The amount of times he didn't lay blocks, didn't contest, didn't help out his mates (poor FOS copped it way too many times), or called for the ball in a horrible position directly led to a lot of problems for our offensive transition.

We become incredibly one dimensional when he had possession of the ball

 

[zoomba23]

gee, I wonder who that could be in the middle there with some decent stats

View attachment 2498283

Sterling work. And when those others are closed down, they have the luxury of being able to kick it long, even if it's to opposition advantage. When Daniel gets closed down he 'bombs' it 20m and completely fails to shed any of the pressure. Not all ineffective kicks are the same, mate

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I know it's the offseason, but I was not expecting a 3 day, 5 page discussion on Caleb Daniel

5

Caleb Daniel

Age

29

Ht

171cm

Wt

72kg

Pos.

M/F

Career

Season

Last 5

D

21.3

5star

K

11.5

4star

HB

9.8

5star

M

3.5

4star

T

2.9

4star

CL

1.4

4star

D

19.5

4star

K

11.1

4star

HB

8.4

4star

M

3.6

4star

T

2.0

3star

CL

1.0

3star

D

16.4

4star

K

7.2

3star

HB

9.2

5star

M

3.4

4star

T

2.6

4star

CL

0.2

2star

 

[rickety]

I know it's the offseason, but I was not expecting a 3 day, 5 page discussion on Caleb Daniel

Well he's a 3 touch, 5 metre player

 

[Karanicolas]

We become incredibly one dimensional when he had possession of the ball

Maybe the fault of the players up the ground? It was really noticeable when Banch played in the last few games and actually ran hard to provide options.

 

[perplexed]

gee, I wonder who that could be in the middle there with some decent stats

View attachment 2498283

That's really not so good. Caleb, and everyone above him, are high because they take their teams kick-ins and play a distributor role in the backline. Caleb really should have a higher number of effective kicks than he does because he kicked-in more often than anyone other than Luke Ryan. He also kicked shorter, taking safer options than the others. He is well down the list of players for metres gained - with his role he should be top five, he is 29th. He is just the wrong player for this role.

 

[DuckYeah]

Maybe the fault of the players up the ground? It was really noticeable when Banch played in the last few games and actually ran hard to provide options.

Up the ground? Nope, he cant kick over a jam tin. If he could kick 30+ and had the same problem then maybe. Its not the fault of the first line of offensive zone. Other teams know he cant and fill the holes. I thought the same thing then but watched it. He’s too one dimensional