Joe Daniher has begun contract talks with Essendon after strong start to season

ESSENDON has opened contract talks with crucial spearhead Joe Daniher in a bid to lock away the prized youngster to a long-term deal.

AFL Essendon vs. Melbourne at the MCG in Melbourne. Joe Daniher goal. Picture: Alex Coppel.

ESSENDON has opened contract talks with crucial spearhead Joe Daniher in a bid to lock away the prized youngster to a long-term deal.

Amid the crushing supplement saga, Daniher’s signature looms as one of the most important as the club aims to rebuild towards finals in three year’s time.

Former Cat James Kelly said Daniher was “unbelievable” on Saturday, gathering a career-high 15 marks in the 13-point win over Melbourne.

Daniher, 22, isn’t out of contract until the end of next season.

But the Bombers have already held preliminary talks with his manager, Nigel Carmody, from Elite Sports Properties, about an early contract extension.

The Herald Sun understands the emerging forward wants to build some consistency in his game this season before looking to put pen to paper.

Joe Daniher has been one of Essendon’s best in its two games this season.

The 201cm forward has been valued about $550,000 a season.

But an early deal is still on the cards, with little chance Daniher will put off re-signing until the end of next season, as Jake Carlisle did before leaving for St Kilda last year.

The Bombers are extremely confident Daniher will remain at Tullamarine after joining as a father-son prospect in 2012. He also had the chance to head to Sydney but committed to Essendon before the supplement scandal unfolded.

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Daniher ran red hot with 21 possessions against the Demons on Saturday, helping Essendon defy predictions it would not win a game all season.

Saturday was the first time in Daniher’s 50-game career that he had taken double-digit marks.

But the fourth-year forward’s unreliable goalkicking continued to haunt him, with the athletic marking target only managing two goals and four behinds from his swag of marks.

Joe Daniher flies over Colin Garland on Saturday. Picture: Alex Coppel

Regardless, Kelly said Daniher was in scintillating form against the Demons, building on from the best preseason of his career.

“He was unbelievable, wasn’t he?” Kelly said on Triple M.

“I’ve watched a little bit of Joe at training and stuff and he has shown glimpses of that during games and ... the marks that he took this week he dropped last week but got himself in some really good positions.

“But he was fantastic. He looked like he was going to mark everything and he had eight or so contested marks, which is a huge effort for a young player, who has only played 50 games.

“The thing I also liked most is that he didn’t get outmarked in the forward line.

“He brought the ball to ground and gave our small forwards the chance to at least put a bit of pressure on.

“So we could set up behind the ball much better, which was probably a bit of a difference to last week.”