Injured Melbourne Rebel Ben Daley helping AFL club St Kilda

It’s only right that Ben Daley’s AFL ambitions landed him at St Kilda. But while the injured Rebel isn’t considering a code swap, he has never been one to sit idle when sidelined.

Ben Daley wearing “Head Gear for Charity”. Picture: Darren England

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It’s only right that Ben Daley’s AFL ambitions would land him at St Kilda.

The former Wallaby is not swapping codes as he nears the end of a rugby career hampered recently by major injuries, but he has never been one to sit idle when sidelined.

Daley, 30, who joined the Melbourne Rebels in 2018, was injured in a pre-season game this year and had a shoulder reconstruction.

Typically, he sought out experiences to satisfy his thirst for improving.

He completed a law degree in 2015 and was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria this year, meaning he can practice law.

But Daley “couldn’t escape” the AFL’s domination of the Melbourne landscape and, via club connections, found himself working one day a week at the Saints this year.

It was a club Daley was well aware.

Ben Daley wearing “Head Gear for Charity”. Picture: Darren England

He went to school with club legend Nick Riewoldt on the Gold Coast, and followed his career with great admiration.

Daley, who played three games for Australia and won a Super Rugby title with the Queensland Reds in 2011, has compiled a significant sporting career himself.

He conceded replicating the highs of singing the national anthem, arm in arm with his Wallaby teammates before a Test match, was unachievable as a working man.

But the cut and thrust of the behind the scenes action at a football club is as close as he’s going to get, and that’s where Daley sees himself spending his working life.

“Playing for the Wallabies, I don’t think anything will better that, and winning a Super Rugby title, they are two things not many people get to experience. I don’t see anything coming close to that,” Daley told the Herald Sun.

Melbourne Rebels Ben Daley at RSEA Park

“But you can use that drive for success and to be the best, you can take that in to a role after football, and in sport, to make people better.

“A general manager of a football club would be my dream role, and having that background of playing professional sport for over a decade you have that affinity for sport and issues inherent across sports.”

Daley, also a board member of the Rugby Union Players Association, has been working closely with St Kilda’s general manager of football, Simon Lethlean, for nearly a year across a broad range of issues.

He’s also spent time working at AFL headquarters.

“You see a vastly different side to the game than when you are just a player,” he said.

“When I first started I sat in on a few different meetings, like medical meetings and as a player you think that just happens. But you see the amount of work people put in behind the scenes all to make the player the best player they can be and the team successful.”

As part of the Rebels leadership group, Daley is a strong advocate for players to not just study while playing, but get work experience too, and find a passion equal to their love for playing.

With his own playing time nearing an end — Daley is not expected to play this season and is out of contract at the end of this year — he said having something to turn to was crucial for sportsmen, who enjoy so many highs, to avoid the post-career lows.

Ben Daley with the Cook Cup. Picture: AAP

“My old man, he played professional rugby league for a number of years, and he said it’s very rare for people to call time on their career when it suits them. That’s always been at the back of my mind,” he said.

“And hopefully I have set myself up for life post football with a job that I enjoy.

“That’s important to, to find a job you enjoy, rather than falling in to a job post football, because you can lose a bit of your zest for life, you don’t have that passion.

“Nothing will really compare to playing sport in front of thousands of people, so you need to find a join you are passionate about.”

Originally published as Injured Melbourne Rebel Ben Daley helping AFL club St Kilda