Liam Baker and Caleb Daniel show the little man still has a place in footy

AFL coaches repeatedly warn the little will cease to exist but two of the three smallest players in footy will cross paths and prove this game is still for all shapes and sizes.

Richmond’s Liam Baker is proving the small man can still have an impact in the game. Picture: Michael Klein.

For decades AFL’s senior coaches have warned us football will soon be the exclusive domain of 195cm midfielders in the mould of Patrick Cripps.

On Saturday night two of the three smallest players in footy will cross paths and prove this game is still for all shapes and sizes.

Call it the Rise of the Little Man, but Caleb Daniel and Liam Baker refuse to be bound by stereotypes.

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And as Richmond rookie Baker continues his rapid emergence, he will do so with coach Damien Hardwick using Bulldogs sweeper Daniel as a direct inspiration.

Daniel, the AFL’s smallest player at 168cm, continued his scintillating form against Fremantle with a performance with his customary poise and precision.

He darted around in defence winning nine of his 30 possessions from intercepts — a team-high total — gaining 511 metres and eight rebound 50s with clinical disposal (87 per cent efficiency).

They are fancy numbers, but to watch the ball fall into Daniel’s hands is to realise he will almost always retain it with superb skill further afield.

Liam Baker has made an eye-catching start to his AFL career. Picture: AAP

Second-year Tigers rookie Baker is a different player but just as effective for the Tigers.

He has had five score involvements in all three of his games this year, his Anzac Eve clash a beauty with 19 disposals, two goals, five tackles and five inside-50s.

His second major — effortlessly vacuuming up a tumbling half-volley then turning onto his left foot to snap a goal — was poetry in motion.

“He is another who missed a draft through his height but people looked at him and thought, “Can he play AFL?”,” Hardwick said this week.

“He has proved the doubters wrong. He has got a great role model in Caleb Daniel. He is a remarkable player and Liam Baker is very much in the same mould.

“The way (Baker) plays the game is clean at ground level, he is tough and hard around the clinches. He does a lot of the little things that we like, which is what the Richmond people value.’’

Caleb Daniel is in hot form for the Bulldogs. Picture: AAP

Richmond has successfully moved on depth players Anthony Miles, Corey Ellis, Sam Lloyd and Reece Conca but been able to play cheap-as-chips replacements who have immediately had impact.

Players like Baker and Sydney Stack have not only entrenched themselves in the side, they are on base wages of around $80,000 plus match payments.

With the second-shortest player Brent Daniels (170cm) playing every game for GWS and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (171cm) on fire, players of their stature aren’t going anywhere just yet.

FIVE SHORTEST AFL PLAYERS

168cm — Caleb Daniel (Western Bulldogs)

170cm — Brent Daniels (GWS)

171cm — Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Essendon)

172cm — Tyson Stengle (Adelaide)

173cm — Liam Baker (Richmond)