Inside Steve Daniel’s exceptional coaching career after overcoming the odds
These days he has become one of the country’s best coaches, but a traumatic event altered the course of his life.
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Steve Daniel never dreamt of coaching, but when he was just a teenager he was left with a broken back and neck.
It was the result of a serious crash caused by drink driving that killed someone in another vehicle.
He was lucky to survive, but it brought an immediate end to his football career at 19 and set him on the path to becoming one of the country’s most respected Aussie Rules mentors.
“I broke my back, my neck, unfortunately that was no good, and that was the end of my playing career,” Daniel reflected.
“I used to do a few talks about the car accident and alcohol and everything else. I was sitting in the back seat but the driver was drunk … it turns tragic.”
It took Daniel over a year to recover physically.
“I was in a wheelchair for so long, I was in the rehab at Glen Waverley. I had to learn how to walk again, how to use my right hand.
“I really battled, I went through some tough times there for a little while, but mum and dad got me going, got me into coaching … I remember my dad saying ‘it doesn’t have to be over mate, maybe look at coaching’.
“That’s how I got into it, through a severe car accident … and here I am today after all that time.”
On Saturday, Daniel had his 100th game at the helm of the Southport Sharks against Williamstown in their VFL clash at Fankhauser Reserve.
It’s a far cry from the humble southeast Melbourne fields where his senior coaching career began as a fresh-faced 25-year-old - 30-odd years ago now - leading his boyhood club, the now-defunct Mt Waverley.
An extensive coaching career that would steer him to all corners of the country has followed. If Daniel were to lead his beloved Sharks to a storeyed VFL flag this season, it would be his 11th premiership.
And that figure isn’t the by-product of one long-lasting dynasty. Instead he has built a reputation for transforming perennial battlers into - at worst, finals contenders - but often premiership juggernauts.
Surrey Park, Seymour, South Cairns, Tatura, Labrador; with a stint at the Carlton-aligned Bullants thrown in the mix in the early 2000s.
After leading Labrador to its first QAFL premiership in 21 years, Daniel assumed the post of NEAFL coach at the Suns in 2016. With the club still teething and facing a heavy injury toll, he led them to consecutive finals campaigns, including the 2017 prelim.
At that time, a budding Jacob Dawson was kicking around in the Suns academy and getting games in the NEAFL.
“We were filled with kids, many academy kids, even our listed guys were very young,” Dawson recalled.
“We probably shouldn’t have been there (in the prelim) but there was genuine belief based on Steve as a coach.”
Dawson has fond memories of playing under Daniel - he’s done it for a fair chunk of his career after all, with the Sharks co-captain having followed the master mentor to Southport after his AFL career ended.
“He had a great influence on me, he was one of the most personable and human coaches, which is a real shock as a kid when you’re getting towards AFL level,” he said.
“You expect those coaches to be professional, Steve is that, but he’s more than that, he really cares for you as a person.
“I wasn’t an AFL listed player, and Steve still invested an incredible amount of time in me and made me feel part of that football club.
“Once you speak with him and you get to know him you want to play for him and you want to win for him.
“If you look at his coaching record, I don’t know how he does it, he’s got more grand finals than he does fingers … that says enough.”
Former Suns mentor Rodney Eade, who coached 377 AFL games and was at the club when Daniel was in charge of the reserves, echoed a similar sentiment.
“Everything’s really positive about him, he’s a people person, he’s a connector … he’s had success wherever he goes,” Eade said of Daniel.
“It’s a testament to his ability as a coach and as a person to be able to work with people on all levels. Like all of us, we’ve got areas that probably aren’t strengths, but ... he surrounds himself with people who are good people but can also compliment what he can do.
“He checks his ego, he’s not an egotistical person, it’s all about the success of the team, and he empowers people.”
Southport has been the latest club to transform under Daniel’s spell. He’s no magician, but he describes himself as lucky.
A humble man, it’s a way of downplaying his excellence. However he proudly notes he’s never been sacked - “touch wood” - with a wry grin.
Southport - a proud club with 21 premierships at the time - was withering at the depths of the NEAFL ladder before Daniel was handed the reins.
The Sharks had finished ninth out of ten teams in 2017. In 2018, Daniel’s first season at the helm, he led them to the premiership.
Daniel said that “without a doubt” he’s drawn to the test that is taking over a struggling club.
“I look for the challenge, Southport was one of those clubs when I came here, they were battling and down the bottom end,” Daniel said.
“A couple of other teams too that I’ve been to and coached along the journey, (Tatura) hadn’t won a game in two years … Seymour was really battling … going in and being able to win flags, it’s exciting to turn a place around.”
When asked how he does it, Daniel reveals that while far more than luck is at play, the key lies within simplicity.
“You’ve got to get in and have a look at what’s going on behind the scenes,” he said.
“So, why are they in this position to start with?
“The number one thing is surrounding yourself with good people, get good people around you.
“The number two thing is you have to recruit. Look at your game plan and recruit the players you feel you need and require to carry that game plan out.”
In Queensland alone, Daniel’s personal accolades include AFL Queensland Coach of the Year, All-Australian Coach at the Australian Country Championships, as well as QAFL and NEAFL Coach of the Year.
This year, he added to the tally, named as an assistant coach of the VFL team that took on the SANFL in a representative match.
Now 56 years of age, Daniel believes a return to the realm of AFL is past him. He’s grateful for the two opportunities he had in AFL systems, and harbours no regrets.
“There wouldn’t be one bit of my coaching pathway I look back on and say I was disappointed about,” he said.
“I’ve had a lot of luck and enjoyment, I’ve liked the way it’s gone and it’s been good.”
Daniel believes that being a “people person” has been instrumental to his success.
“You have to be able to get on with everyone. It’s your players, it’s your coaches, it’s people around the club,” he said.
“If you can get on with them and make a really good environment and an enjoyable environment, they’re going to enjoy coming here and they’re going to enjoy it and play some good footy.
“That’s something that was told to me many years ago and I probably live by that now.”
He also believes enduring a near-death experience at 19, and the trauma that followed, shaped the coach - and man - he became.
“The boys reckon I’m pretty laid back,” Daniel said.
“It’s a whole outlook.”
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