Why a Sydney trade would have benefited Daniher

Joe Daniher’s name will once again be a hot topic of discussion when it comes to player movement.

Daniher, whose desired move to Sydney fell through on trade deadline last year, remains out of contract at Essendon and is some way off returning from a troublesome groin injury.

Hawthorn great Dermott Brereton respects the Bombers’ stance on keeping the All-Australian forward but says a trade to the Swans would have been better for all parties.

“You always try and keep your best players, you always try and keep your stars … in the end they get you a little bit more financially, you’ve got to pay them a little bit overs to keep them,” Brereton told SEN’s Bob and Andy.

“This lad (Daniher) is an exceptional talent and I just thought if he misses another full year through injury, if he’s at Essendon he’ll be devastated because he’ll feel like he’s letting them down.

“Whereas if he did end up at Sydney and he didn’t get fit they would turn around to him and say, ‘That’s alright get your body right, we’ll warehouse you, we purchased you for two years time’.

“And the mentality for the young man would be, ‘I’ve got time on my side, I don’t have to fight the clock to get fit again’ and I think it would put him a lot better headspace.

“I think it was an opportunity for Essendon to draw something in terms of getting a return for him in the market and it was an opportunity to do something for the boy as well.

“I thought it was an opportunity missed but they’ve got their own reasons.”

Daniher, 26, has played just 11 games in two-and-a-half years and last appeared for Essendon in Round 9 last year.