Melbourne’s Daniel Cross changes clubs but sticks with same pre-game meal, plays old side Western Bulldogs for first time

TWELVE years ago, Daniel Cross made a dinner-time decision that would shape the rest of his career. Problem was, he wasn’t particularly fond of chow mein.

Cross will play his first game against old side Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

TWELVE years ago, Daniel Cross made a dinner-time decision that would shape the rest of his career.

Problem was, the veteran hard nut wasn’t particularly fond of chow mein, when he threw some noodles and vegies on a plate the night before a VFL game, back in 2002.

But when you are as meticulous in your preparation as Cross, and play a blinder as he did the next day, you don’t stray from the meal-time script.

DEMON’S FAITH IN FOOTY RESTORED

VINEY WINS BUMP APPEAL, FREE TO PLAY

So, following the same withered recipe that has now been shared across two clubs, the new Demon has fuelled up on exactly the same Chinese dish the night before almost every one of his 217 AFL matches.

“It’s funny because as a kid growing up, I used to hate it when mum cooked chow mein,” Cross said, laughing.

Cross has a special bond with young son Tyler. Picture: Colleen Petch.

“But for some reason I had it one night before a game and for next three or four weeks we kept winning and I kept playing well.

“I’m a creature of habit, so I just kept eating it and that’s how it stuck, really.”

While his wife, Sam, may long for the off-season when the weekend menu finally changes, Cross’s new Melbourne teammates try to emulate his professionalism, to the point of coming over to watch him cook it.

“Jordie McKenzie is a big fan of it and a few other guys have tried it as well, so we talk about our recipes,” Cross said. “The chow mein bandwagon is growing.

“Boydy (Matthew Boyd) used to have it a couple of nights before (a game) and Lindsay Gilbee was on it and Shaun Higgins likes it.”

Cross says Melbourne is now his home.

At least, that was the case last year before Cross, 31, was told he was surplus to inside midfield requirements at Whitten Oval, ending a dream to “play out my career at the Bulldogs”.

Looking back, the man who would be in the top-six in Melbourne’s best and fairest award seven rounds into this season, says he has “loved the transition” to the rejuvenated Demons and “felt at home” since his first game in red and blue.

But, in a frank assessment of the meeting that rocked him, the former Dogs’ favourite son says being told his time was over at the kennel was “the toughest moment of my professional career”.

“In some ways, you can’t believe it’s actually happening,” Cross said.

“I absolutely bled red and white and blue, so to be told (his contract would not be extended), it really does cut deep and I was really upset.”

That was his heart talking.

His head understood the direction the Bulldogs were going, fast-tracking boom youngsters such as Lachlan Hunter and Jackson Macrae.

That’s why Cross not only attended the club champion award function last year, he gave a moving speech to express his eternal gratitude.

But the man who six times finished top-three in the Dogs’ best and fairest knew he had more to give.

Cross will play his first game against old side Western Bulldogs on Saturday.

Before he could leave the Dogs, though, he had a phone call to make.

Something to give him some closure and reassurance that his move would not betray the club that had been home to him for 12 years.

“I spoke to Brad Johnson to see what he thought about me going to another club,” Cross said.

“He’s the games record holder, the club champion.

“If he was OK with it, I knew I could do it.”

Johnson said of the conversation: “If he ‘ummed and ahhhed’ about it, I would have said, ‘Maybe it’s time to finish up and see what else life has to offer’.

“But there was no hesitation when he spoke.

“He just said straight-out that, ‘I know I have more to give and that there were a few more good years left in my body’.

“He is just so motivated and disciplined and such a team player, that you just knew he was going to have a significant impact at Melbourne.”

That he has.

Cross with son Tyler. Picture: Colleen Petch.

In one of the most successful free agency moves of last year, the 187cm ball-winner has helped steel the revamped Melbourne midfield, ranking first at the club for average tackles, handballs and loose ball gets per game. He is third in contested possessions and fifth for disposals and clearances.

The workhorse on-baller has also played a sacrificial team role on the opposition’s top ball-winners, such as Sydney’s Jarrad McVeigh and Adelaide’s Rory Sloane, to help free-up the Demons’ prime movers Bernie Vince and Nathan Jones.

Cross said he wanted desperately to “repay the faith the club has shown in me”.

But perhaps more importantly, Cross said he took great joy watching some of his young teammates, who have been repeatedly thrashed for the bulk of their careers, experience the joy and relief of winning.

“To see the smiles on the guys’ faces, especially after the win against Carlton, it was an amazing feeling for me, personally,” he said.

Cross thanked Bulldogs fans for their support after his final game for the club in 2013. Picture: Michael Klein

“It releases so much pressure on them and I think instilled a confidence in the guys’ minds that, yes, we can win the close ones.

“The atmosphere in the rooms is really exciting and it’s not like the guys are celebrating like it’s a grand final.

“It’s a celebration of us moving forward.”

Manager Liam Pickering, who described Cross as “one of the most professional, if not the most professional” player he has been involved with in 20 years, said the move had been a huge win for the Dees.

“(Melbourne coach) Paul Roos was really adamant to me that this was not going to be just a back-up type role or a stop-gap. It’s going to be a really important part of their team,” Pickering said.

“His form has been super, really.

“With a bloke like ‘Crossy’ it just goes back to how well he prepares and how much he wants to play footy.

It is why, when the clearance king was weighing up his future at the end of last year, Pickering said a raft of “big clubs” chased him to fill a variety of off-field fitness and development roles.

Cross is chaired off by then teammates Matthew Boyd and Dale Morris. Picture: Michael Klein

“He could have easily put the white flag up and said ‘I’ve got a couple of really good offers’, but you are a long time retired,” he said.

“If you want to keep playing and I encouraged him to when others are saying he should retire as a great player of the Bulldogs.

“But he didn’t want to and fair enough.”

A tireless worker, Johnson said he can’t remember the number of times Cross had to be “dragged off the training track”.

“He was always last out there,” Johnson said.

“You’d always see him out on the middle of the oval doing sprints and practising his ground balls.

“He was always working so hard on every aspect of his game, setting such a great example for all of his teammates.”

Cross with son Tyler. Picture: Colleen Petch.

Acting almost as an on-field assistant coach, Cross has taken seriously the responsibility of helping educate his younger Melbourne teammates.

Especially 20-year-old on-baller Dom Tyson, the man contentiously welcomed to the Dees as part of the trade for pick No. 2, last year.

“I love seeing kids who are passionate about their progression and he (Tyson) is always coming to me, always wanting to work on things,” Cross said.

“He’s an exceptional talent, but I’ve seen a lot of kids who have slipped through the cracks of the AFL system because they just try and get by on talent.

“But Dom has such a cool head on his shoulders and has such a fantastic work ethic.

“He is a great pick-up for the club.”

So too, it must be said, was Cross.

CROSSY’S BEEF CHOW MEIN

Ingredients:

Lean beef mince

Chopped green beans

Red capsicum

Grated carrot

Chicken stock

Curry powder

Maggi oyster sauce

Angel hair pasta

Crossy says: “Simple but effective!”

CROSS SET TO PLAY ON

DANIEL Cross is poised to play into next season, extending a career that seemed all but over late last year.

Barring injury, Cross is expected to satisfy a trigger clause in his contract in the second half of the season that automatically activates another year in his deal.

Manager Liam Pickering said the 31-year-old clearly “had a fair bit of footy in him” despite being let go by the Bulldogs last year.

“It’s not like he’s going to drop-off because he prepares as well as anybody,” Pickering said.

“His professionalism is first-class and when you consider his character, leadership and competitiveness as well, it’s very hard to stop these kinds of blokes because they just keep motoring on.”

The boss of Strategic Management, Pickering said it was clear from Cross’s strong finish to last season that he could have a profound impact at another club.

“I think there is a really strong case to say that he should have been offered another contract (by the Dogs),” Pickering said.

“It’s a bit like ‘Chappy’ (Paul Chapman) at Geelong. If you look back and think what have they done wrong? Nothing really.

“But I understand the Dogs philosophy of wanting getting games into their young players and Geelong has done the same thing.

“So I understood their (Dogs’) view, I just didn’t agree with it and neither did Daniel, and I said that the time.”

Originally published as Melbourne’s Daniel Cross changes clubs but sticks with same pre-game meal, plays old side Western Bulldogs for first time