TALK to people around the Western Bulldogs about Daniel Cross, and there is one word they all mention. Work.
If it doesn’t come out in the first comment they make about the low-profile but big-impact Bulldog, it emerges in the second, or no later by the third.
If it doesn’t come out in the first comment they make about the low-profile but big-impact Bulldog, it emerges in the second, or no later by the third.
The ability to work hard - to constantly improve all facets of his game - is a quality Cross brought to the club the day he was drafted. And nearly a decade later as he approaches the 150-game mark, he continues to set the bar at the club when it comes to constant improvement.
It's that characteristic coach Rodney Eade noticed about Cross the first time the pair met, when Eade was appointed late in 2004. Nearly six years later, Eade continues to marvel about Cross' capacity to work.
"I didn’t know much about him when I first came to the club," Eade recalls.
"He was young, but I threw him a challenge in my first pre-season and full credit to him because he worked hard, smashed the door down and demanded a game. He then cemented a spot in the side."
Cross arrived at the Whitten Oval at the end of 2000 from Albury in New South Wales, having been selected in the fourth round of that year’s draft as a 17-year-old.
He played for the Murray Bushrangers in the TAC Cup, and represented NSW/ACT in its Division Two win in the 2000 under-18 championships.
In his AFL 2001 profile, Cross was described as "agile and good overhead". He had impressed scouts at the 2000 draft camp with an "outstanding" beep test measuring endurance.
He made his debut in 2002 (against Richmond in round 10) but only started stringing games together in the second half of 2004 under Peter Rohde.
Eade replaced Rohde as coach at the end of the 2004 season, so Cross had to go to work all over again in an effort to prove himself.
"He gave me my chance at the start and has always believed in me," Cross said last week.
"In the past, coaches have looked at my weaknesses when they assess what I might bring to the side, but he's always looked at my strengths."
Those strengths include exceptional hand skills, superior fitness and the concentration to perform a run-with role when required.
The day before our interview, Cross had been assigned, and beaten, dangerous Carlton playmaker Heath Scotland hands down to help his team to an important win, keeping the Dogs' top-four hopes on track.
Read the fully story in the round 17 edition of the AFL Record, available at all grounds.
