Essendon’s great Terry Daniher has explained why he chose to crack a team meeting at the club on Wednesday.
The Fire Department is preparing for its long-awaited 150th anniversary game, with a generous pre-game ceremony scheduled ahead of Friday night’s clash with rival arch Carlton at the MCG.
Several of Essendon’s greats have been invited back to the club this week, and some attended an open training session on Windy Hill on Thursday.
Daniher said he wanted to give the struggling Firefighters, who currently rank 16th on the ladder with just two wins, a “general regimen” ahead of Friday night’s big hit.
“I thought these guys needed a little general revolution, so I shocked them,” he told SEN Breakfast.
“I had to put my grain of sand and I told them to get up and make their effort, they have to form good habits and the rest will go in their place.
“The game is pretty basic, sometimes when you go through a bad race you get a little complicated. Sometimes you can work too hard, I think simple messages make a little more sense. “
Essendon coach Ben Rutten loved the moment between Daniher and the club’s current players, highlighting the passion he and several previous players still have for the Fire Department.
“Terry Daniher broke up a meeting yesterday,” Rutten said Thursday during his weekly press conference.
“We love that. What you can see with our previous players is their passion. They are very invested in the football club and tomorrow (Friday) is an opportunity to represent them.”
Daniher played 294 games with Essendon between 1978 and 1992, becoming a two-time first-time player and three-time All-Australian member during his brilliant career.