Daniels said Balic’s death “hit me like a ton of bricks”, adding the ex-Docker and Demon’s story “was one I know all too well and for a long time have ignored”.
Daniels published his story via Facebook, saying he had hit “ground zero” after being delisted by the Bulldogs in 2010, but put his “pride aside” to work his way up the McDonald’s management chain.
Balic, who was drafted to the AFL in 2015 out of the Sandringham Dragons, died on Sunday morning, with Victoria Police confirming they were not treating the death as suspicious.
“Very apprehensively, I have decided to share my story and speak up in hope it might help others who are in a place they never imagine,” Daniels wrote in his Facebook post, which now has garnered almost six thousand likes.
Daniels detailed how — at 15 — after being cut from the Murray Bushrangers’ under-15 side, he made the decision to “dedicate everything” to a career in the AFL.
His dream would ultimately come true when, in 2008, he was selected by the Bulldogs at pick 14 in the AFL rookie draft.
But after two injury-plagued years at Whitten Oval, Daniels said he “hadn’t shown enough”, and he was delisted from his rookie contract, a devastating blow which he said had him feeling “completely numb’’.
“For the last 6 years my whole life had been focused on the one thing that had just been taken away from me. While all AFL clubs push and promote “setting yourself up outside of football” to all players, it wasn’t something I was prepared for,” he said.
“I couldn’t fathom putting time into life outside football when I was flat out trying to keep up and keep my AFL dream alive, much like back in high school when I was doing everything possible to get drafted instead of studying for exams, it was 1 or the other.
“As I laid on the couch still in tears, a horrible feeling came over me. I had nothing. No job, no money (base wage for a rookie was about 40k and living in the city for a county kid away from home was expensive!) and lastly, no qualifications. I thought about the people I had been to school with, a lot of them were at least halfway if not finished apprenticeships or degrees and what felt like well on their way to having things figured out.’’
With little to no prospects, Daniels moved back in with his host family at Werribee while on the hunt for a job, where his host mother (who worked at McDonald’s Melbourne head office) convinced him to take a full-time role at McDonald’s Point Cook.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I picture myself spending my ‘prime years’ aged 21-23 working shift work at McDonald’s. Looking back now I wouldn’t change a thing, my host mum was right, the systems and management skills and courses were invaluable for the rest of my life and have put me in the fortunate position I am in now back in Shepparton,” he said.
Since his AFL days, Daniels has worked his way up the management ladder with McDonald’s, garnering the necessary managerial skills which have allowed him to secure the role as operations manager at Shepparton-based smoke alarm business HomeSafe GV.
He’s also played at various levels of footy, including VFL, WAFL, NEAFL, and has also been heavily involved in the Goulburn Valley Football League and Ovens and Murray Football League.
Having coached at Tatura for a number of years, Daniels recently joined Numurkah from Nagambie for the 2022 season, with locals excited to see him line up for the Blues this year.
If you, or someone you know needs help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78.
