Bombers great launches scathing attack on Daniher
ESSENDON premiership hero Ted Fordham has urged the club to send restricted free agent Joe Daniher packing.
Fordham, a former Bombers vice-president who kicked seven goals in the club’s 1965 Grand Final triumph and played 128 times for the Dons, said he was disgusted by Daniher’s decision to leave the club hanging on a contract offer.
“He thinks he’s bigger than the club and when a bloke gets to that stage, you bloody get rid of him,” Fordham said.
“You only have to look at his last 11 games and his stats – he’s done nothing and he thinks he’s a superstar.
“I can’t say anything bad about him as a person but as a player at the Essendon Football Club I think he has set a very, very bad example.
“I’ve seen this coming for two years with Daniher and the sooner they get rid of him, the better off they’ll be. And they can get rid of Orazio (Fantasia), too.
“I’m very concerned about the club to be truthful.
“I watch every game and I think I’m a pretty good judge of a player and pretty good judge of a person and I’m very, very disappointed in what is going on at the club at the moment.
“Joe Daniher’s efforts have been a disgrace and he should have made a decision by now as to whether he’s going to stay at the club.
“I’d give Adam Saad five years and pay him what he wants.
“As for these other blokes who don’t want to be at the club - I think it is detrimental.”
Daniher, linked to Sydney, Geelong and Brisbane, has been given two weeks by Bombers chiefs to decide his future. Fordham said he would be mortified if the Bombers recruited Kangaroo Ben Brown or Melbourne’s Tom McDonald to replace Daniher, and questioned the leadership of outgoing president Lindsay Tanner.
“We haven’t heard from our president for months. Paul Brasher (Tanner’s replacement) has got a big job in front of him,” Fordham said.