Even when wearing the green vest, Daniel Giansiracusa is finding ways to involve himself in the game, mentoring his young teammates from the sidelines and keeping them focussed on the game.
With the changing of the guard gradually taking place at Whitten Oval, Giansiracusa is content in coming off the bench as an impact player – evidenced in Saturday night’s 21 possession, two goal haul.
“You can take it one of two ways, you can sort of sit there and not get involved or you can go the other way,” Giansiracusa told Triple M.
“I have really enjoyed helping the younger players when they come off the ground and just giving them some instruction and it keeps me in the game.
“When I am ready to go I feel like I can still work pretty hard and be able to get off my opponents because I am that little bit fresher than them.
“I am happy to play that role for the team and I am enjoying it at the moment – especially with a couple of wins.”
Giansiracusa’s 14 years and 238 games experience has been invaluable in the forward line over the past 18 months, providing on field guidance to the next generation of young pups.
Senior Coach Brendan McCartney has been open in his approach to developing the youth at the Club and Giansiracusa has embraced the changing direction alongside him.
“You do have to change your focus a bit and you probably have to analyse why you are still around the footy Club,” he said.
“Macca has made it quite clear that he has kept us around to help educate what it takes to play at this level for those younger guys.
“Once we got our head around that we are thoroughly enjoying that and happy to be a part of that.”
The Bulldogs had 14 players with less than 50 games experience against Port Adelaide, six of which have played less than 15 games.
However Giansiracusa is confident that his younger teammates are making the most of their opportunities at senior level, and that the quick progression he was seeing is a big positive for the Club going forward.
“Obviously Macca coming in he’s giving those guys opportunities… there’s still a long way to go but we are actually seeing that improvement come,” he said.
“There’s no ceiling on how far those guys can go.”
Another young Bulldog who is quickly establishing himself as one of the best clearance players in the game is Tom Liberatore who worked diligently in the Darwin heat to produce a career best 35 possessions (24 contested), 13 clearances, five rebound 50s and four tackles.
“Tom Liberatore he was fantastic last night, he had 35 touches, I think, and in his own way like [Ryan] Griffen he is really leading from the front,” he said.
“He had a blip on the radar last year but he’s come out of that and he’s definitely very influential around the footy club and what he can do on the footy field is pretty amazing to watch.”
Giansiracusa also praised last year’s rookie elevation Jason Johannisen and earmarked him as an important player for the future.
The 20-year-old has been a playmaker in the Bulldogs’ back six this season, with his speed and composure providing plenty of run and carry out of defence.
His elite disposal efficiency also saw him rack up 21 disposals at 71.4%, despite the slippery conditions.
“He is another success story off the rookie list… he’s training really hard and he gives us that bit of burst off the half back line and uses the footy really well,” he said.
“He compliments a lot of guys in the team and we are very excited about what he can do for our footy club going forward.”
