Fitness And Belief Are The Roos' Secrets Of Success
The Sunday Age
Sunday September 2, 2007
Daniel Harris has never been in better shape and relishes the thought of playing finals, says Rod Curtis.
DANIEL Harris can pinpoint when the Kangaroos' tilt at September started. It's almost a year ago, the precise moment coach Dean Laidley decided the Roos needed to start their pre-season earlier than any team had done before."As soon as (Laidley) made that stand for pre-season, to come back early, I just reckon that was the first step in the right direction," Harris said last week."It's something we had to do. I mean, coming off the year we had . . . We came back early, did the hard yards and it's put us in a good position going into this last game - everyone's feeling pretty good. From my point of view, it's probably the best shape I've been in."Fitness is not the only thing Laidley has instilled in the players this year. Or possibly even the most important. The main thing Harris thinks Laidley gave him this year is belief."He's given the guys belief in our talent," Harris says. "I suppose we're renowned for just having a crack. But it's more than that. He drives into us that we're a talented group, as well, and we can match it with the best of them."And that's exactly what Harris wants to do. If Sydney beats Hawthorn today, and the Kangaroos beat the Bulldogs, the Roos will finish fourth, earning the double chance and the chance to play Geelong - a match in which Harris believes the Roos could do some damage."If we finish fourth, we get another crack at Geelong. We're one each now (this year) so hopefully we can get another crack at them come September, because I think we match up well against them."Harris has never been afraid of a challenge. The son of a Korumburra policeman, Daniel grew up in Gippsland, moving every three years with his Dad's job - from the Burra to Bena to Wonthaggi to Mirboo North. At 10, Harris settled in Rushworth, in central Victoria, among the ironbark trees and old goldmines, and by 15, he was playing football against men."I pretty much did all my growing up at Rushy, in the house next to the police station. That backed onto the bush so as a kid, I was always out in the bush, climbing trees and all that fun stuff."Daniel and his mates would ride the six kilometres on their battered BMXs to Whroo, with its abandoned open-cut gold mine, or explore "out the back", through the abandoned gold shafts. "I found some gold out the back," he said. "All out the back was mines. You'd always find little shades of it, nothing serious, but you'd see where the miners had been over the years."As the son of a bush copper, Harris couldn't stray far. "Dad pretty much knew what was going on," he laughed. "He'd pull me up every now and then, for riding without your helmet and stuff like that. You couldn't get away with much."Harris' father, Ian, had been a promising footballer himself. Invited by Tom Hafey to train at Richmond, Ian chose the job and his family over football, but was adamant Daniel would grab his chance. "Dad's the best role model I could go by," Harris said. "He was always having a kick with me. And he was a good footballer - I would have liked his pace, and he could definitely find it, I've heard."So could young Daniel, but he couldn't find the motivation. He was playing seniors at 15 with Rushworth, then was invited to the Bendigo Pioneers. "I was just happy to have a kick. I got to about 17 and my old man told me if I knuckled down and worked hard, I might make a career of it. I got the feedback from clubs that I was too fat and too slow . . . so I got a sprint coach over the summer, I leaned right down, had a pretty good year and got drafted."Taken by the Roos in 2000 at pick 14, Harris still looked slow, but when thrown into a pack, the Roos knew they'd found a gold nugget."He's a goer, 'Wombat', he just burrows in there," says Greg Hutchison, the Roos' midfield coach. "He's always been very capable at winning his own football in close, but he's also been able to develop the running and the linking up and pushing the ball inside 50."Hutchison points to the fact that Harris, together with skipper Adam Simpson, is in the AFL top 10 for clearances as proof of his work ethic. "He's very thoughtful about the way he plays and works hard on making himself better. "He's always looking at the opposition, what they do ruck-wise, set-up wise. He's a no-fuss sort of fella, his style suits the Roos and the way we go about it. It's very rare now he's not making an impact on the game."Apart from round 10, perhaps, when he had seven possessions against West Coast and the Kangaroos were walloped by 11 goals. "It's the worst game I've played for the club," a typically blunt Harris said. "We got smashed in contested footy, which is our strength. They converted, we didn't. But a flogging like that hasn't happened since, which is a big positive. We've moved on."Harris knows his game well. It's based on clearances, tackles - "I pride myself on my tackles" - one per centers and handball receives, "which means I'm running". "If I'm doing that and doing my role for the team, like feeding the ball out for Wellsy and Boomer and these guys, that's my role. If I do those three things and do them well, then nine times out of 10 it will be a solid game for me."Harris has always been able to win his own ball - "It's just been an instinct over the years" - but only recently has been able to run games out. He attributes the improvement to fitness coach Paul Turk."Paul's been great for me. I've got my weight down - to 81, where it should be - and I feel like I'm running out games a lot better."The memory of the Roos' last finals effort remains a September spur. In Harris' one and only final, the Roos were "thumped" by Port in the 2005 elimination final. It's a memory Harris is keen to turn around, by getting over the Dogs, then if all goes well, the Cats.q
© 2007 The Sunday Age