I said this in 2009, and again at the start of 2010, I wanted to see him get a good few years at Wenty under his belt.
He made a stunning debut, played what 10 - 12 games in a red hot side, scored a few tries, but he was never ready to play football with men. When he was dumped on the Queensland Road trip last year, I was very hopeful he would get his stint at Wenty.
Daniel was the starting Half back in Under 20's in 2008 and 2009, he was in the 20s, with Kris Keating, Keating was ready to step up in 2009 but was injured so they went for Daniel. Having never played against men.
Now he is there, I see improvement in him each week, he is another year away I think from being able to take a first grade game by the scruff of the throat and turn it into something, we should watch how he plays at Wenty for the first part of 2012 then decide if we should sign him again on a contract comparative with his previous performance and not on his speculative value.
I have no doubts the kid will play more first grade ball. When I am a little fuzzier on.
The sad part about this, is we got baited into paying massive overs for the kid, and that affected the retention and recruitment policy for 2010 and onwards. In the salary cap era, you pay for your mistakes for a few years.
