A STRONGER, fitter Joe Daniher feels more confident lining up set shots now that his goalkicking radar has been fine-tuned by Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd.
Lloyd has returned to the Bombers this year to work as a specialist goalkicking mentor for the club's forwards and impart expertise from his stellar 926-goal career.
Rising star Daniher has been squarely in Lloyd's sights, with the pair developing a more consistent routine for the 21-year-old spearhead.
Daniher booted 28.20 in his second AFL season last year and has a career accuracy rate of just 52 per cent, but said he's feeling more assured in front of the big sticks.
"I'm very happy to have Lloydy back at the football club and I'm very lucky to work with him," Daniher said ahead of the Dons' final NAB Challenge match against Melbourne on Friday night.
"We've been working together for a few months now and I feel like I'm a little bit more confident with my goalkicking.
"He's done that a little bit (work on the mental side of goalkicking), but I feel like for us it's been working around my technique and making sure it's the same every time. That will help my consistency.
"I'm not quite as consistent as I would like just yet but it's going to be something I'm going to have to work on throughout my career."
NAB Challenge squads: Melbourne v Essendon
Daniher sat out the Dons' first NAB Challenge loss to St Kilda, but returned to action last Friday against Greater Western Sydney and kicked 2.0.
The young gun was also reported for striking Giants defender Phil Davis and accepted a $1000 fine.
Lloyd was infamous for his aggression during his playing days and while Daniher said he hadn't been instructed to throw his weight around, the 201cm big man wants to make his presence felt – legally – more often in 2015.
"It's part of my game that needs to improve, there's no doubt about that," he said.
"For me, that was probably a little bit of frustration last week. I was very excited to get out there and play footy.
"I was probably just a little bit late on that one but I'll keep working on that."
Daniher, who has put on "a few" kilograms over summer and feels "a lot fitter", said the Bombers are keen to put in a better performance against the Demons at Etihad Stadium.
Essendon's mix of top-up players and full squad members lost to the Saints by 50 points and went down to GWS by 45, but the side has been strengthened by the return of Mark Baguley, while last year's No.20 draft pick Jayden Laverde will play his first match.
The Bombers hope the clash with Melbourne is the last time that top-up players are required to replace the club's provisionally suspended players, with a verdict from the AFL's Anti-Doping Tribunal to be handed down on March 31.
D-Day will be a relief: Zaharakis
On Wednesday, assistant coach Mark Harvey told radio station SEN it had been difficult to know how much strategy and tactic information to pass on to the top-up players, but Daniher said the players had been welcome "in every meeting that we've had".
And despite the disruption to pre-season, the young gun believed the provisionally suspended Dons would be in good shape come round one against the Sydney Swans.
"We've trained the best that we possibly could going into round one," Daniher said.
"It's an unfortunate circumstance and the coaching staff and the fitness staff have put in a great plan for the rest of the players who can't be playing.
"I'm sure they'll be ready to go round one."
