"He's as hard as anyone you'll see play in the Ovens and Murray," Cresswell enthused.

It's an enormous compliment from the Sydney Swans' Team of the Century member, who famously banged his dislocated kneecap into place during a game in 1997.

"He's a fantastic stoppage player, uncompromising," Cresswell added.

"He's been on an AFL list (Western Bulldogs 2009-10) and is a really good leader, he sets the right example on and off the field around the club."

Daniels was one of six players the Hawks signed in November, 2019, but given last year was wiped out due to COVID and a number of clubs have picked up a stack of signings in the past six months, the group has been somewhat overlooked.

"People forget about Jamason, Ryan Stone, Tyson Hartwig and Alex Marklew," Cresswell explained.

Daniels' last season of football certainly won't be forgotten.

He polled in seven of the first nine games in the Goulburn Valley's Morrison Medal and was a leading contender, but was forced to miss the rest of the home and away season with a posterior cruciate ligament injury.

Despite missing half the season, the midfielder still finished in the top 15 and was clearly the highest vote-getter of any player who missed an extended period of the competition.

After winning through to the Bulldogs' rookie list, playing a handful of pre-season games but not managing to break onto the senior list and play an AFL match, the 30-year-old spent time with Coburg in the VFL and Peel Thunder in the WAFL.

He played in the Shepparton Swans premiership team in 2014, before starting his coaching career at fellow GV club Tatura the following year at just 24.

Daniels then spent a year as the Gold Coast Suns assistant academy coach before returning for a three-year stint with Tatura.

Those coaching stints will provide Daniels and the experienced Cresswell with the knowledge to effectively handle the situation where the club has the most VFL-listed players.

IN OTHER NEWS

"You won't know what you've got to deal with until we know who's available, so there's no point stewing on it or trying to crunch the numbers now," the mature Daniels said of the circumstances.

"It's part of modern footy having VFL players on your list, it's something we work with and no different to getting injuries to players and you'd rather them on your list than not."