The league’s shortest player tried to assert himself over Demons giant Max Gawn on Saturday — but things didn’t go to plan.
Caleb Daniel’s bark was worse than the Bulldogs’ bite on Saturday night.
As Melbourne skipper Max Gawn collected a loose ball on the wing midway through the third quarter of the AFL Grand Final, he found himself with nowhere to go. Under pressure from Daniel, he was dragged over the sideline then took a nasty tumble.
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Gawn’s head slammed hard into the astroturf next to the Optus Stadium advertising boards, sparking fears he might have done some damage. Thankfully, he looked straight back up to confirm he was OK.
But as Gawn lay on the ground, inquiring about a possible free kick, Caleb let the superstar ruckman know he wasn’t going to have it all his own way. Fresh from booting five goals in the preliminary final and having established himself as the best big-man in the competition, the Dogs knew if they shut down Gawn, they were halfway to victory.
At this stage the Bulldogs were up by 19 points and Daniel had every reason to feel confident. He took a couple of steps towards Gawn and stood over him, looking down.
It might be the only chance Daniel ever gets to look down at Gawn. After all, the Bulldogs workhorse is 1.7m tall, while Gawn is positively gigantic at 2.08m — a whole 38cm closer to the sky.
The comical image of the league’s shortest player standing over one of the tallest didn’t go unnoticed by Brian Taylor in the Channel 7 commentary box.
“Gawn had his head ricocheted into the hard surface! That was dangerous! Very, very lucky,” Taylor said.
“Have a look at this. Daniel and Goliath collide!”
We’re going to assume Taylor went with a quick-witted pun, rather than suggest he doesn’t know it’s actually “David vs Goliath”, as his one-liner caught the attention of viewers watching at home in their loungeroom.
Sports reporter Daniel Cherny tweeted: “Daniel and Goliath. That’s BT’s best ever line.”
Writer Erin Marie added: “BT with ‘Daniel and Goliath’ showing us how much he reads the good word” with a laughing emoji.
Lisbeth Gorr wrote: “Um. It’s David and Goliath, BT. Daniel was in the Lions Den. Different Grand Final. But loving your work #AFLGF.”
Norm Smith Medallist Christian Petracca had a cheeky crack at his captain for being thrown to the turf by the smallest man on the field.
“Gawny, come on,” Petracca told the Sunday Footy Show. “I ran past him to go the bench and I looked at him and I was like, ‘You can’t be doing that’.
“What is he (Daniel) — he’s 5’7, you’re 6’11 and you went down like a rag doll. Come on mate.”
Whereas in the famous tale the much shorter David overcomes Goliath, that’s not how things panned out for Daniel.
His defiant show of confidence backfired as the Bulldogs crumbled in the final quarter to lose by a whopping 74-points.
Sunday Footy Show host Tony Jones suggested Daniel’s treatment of Gawn may have inspired the Demons into action and been a “turning point in that, ‘You’re not gonna do that to my captain’.”
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