Caleb Daniel is starting to replicate the numbers — albeit at the other end of the ground — which made him a standout SuperCoach junior

A Bulldog is starting to replicate the numbers which made him a standout SuperCoach junior. But, despite being the third-ranked forward, he’s now doing it at the other end of the ground.

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“He is the Champion Data player from the draft”.

That’s the line from Fantasy Freako under Caleb Daniel’s profile in the 2015 AFL Prospectus.

The former South Adelaide junior, who was selected at pick No. 46 in the national draft, was the No. 1 ranked player at the 2014 Under-18 Championships.

Daniel averaged a huge 171 SuperCoach points per game playing a half-forward role for South Australia, eclipsing the year’s top-picks Jack Steele (150), Isaac Heeney (131), Christian Petracca (123) and Angus Brayshaw (112).

A young Caleb Daniel in action in the 2014 SANFL Finals series against Sturt.

The skilful right-footer’s average was on the back of his elite ball-use, which saw him record a disposal efficiency of 92 per cent and the best kick-rating of any forward at the championships.

In South Australia’s final match of the carnival, Daniel tallied 21 disposals — at 86 per cent efficiency — eight score involvements, three goals and an unbelievable 217 SuperCoach points in the nine-point win against Vic Metro.

Despite is short stature, Daniel also did it against the big bodies in the SANFL.

At senior level, Daniel averaged 17 disposals and 77 per cent efficiency and more score assists per game than any other player in the competition to play at least 10 games.

But it’s the ball-use – this time at the other end of the ground — which has Daniel sitting as the third-ranked SuperCoach forward after seven rounds in 2019.

Playing as the Bulldogs’ go-to man off half-back, the 22-year-old boasts the second-best disposal efficiency (81%) of the top-25 ball-winners in the competition.

Daniel, whose 203 total disposals has him 15th, ranks fifth in the competition for effective disposals and seventh for effective kicks.

And a kicking-efficiency of 80 per cent is the sixth-best percentage of all players to have had at least 120 kicks.

In 2016 and 2017, Daniel played through the midfield and at half-forward, averaging 21 disposals and 79 SuperCoach points per game.

These numbers continued through most of 2018 before a role-change – a commonly-used term at the Bulldogs under Luke Beveridge – in the last month of the season.

Daniel went to half-back in Round 20 and averaged 30 disposals and 102 points from that point.

Caleb Daniel at the Bulldogs pre-season training camp early this year.

And the scoring has continued this year.

The elite runner has posted scores of 104, 120, 96, 93, 100, 102, and 113 in a super-consistent start to 2019.

He’s taken his ball-winning ability to another level, winning 30 disposals or more in five of the first seven rounds this season.

On Saturday night against the Tigers, Daniel had just 10 disposals to his name at half-time.

He finished with 36, after a tallying 12 and 14 in the next two quarters respectively.

At $499k, Daniel, who is in less than six per cent of teams, is the ninth-most expensive forward, despite being the third-highest scorer.

I’m on-board this week. Are you?