Daniel Motlop

Introduction and Early Life

Daniel is an indigenous Australian and plays professional Australian Rules Football. He was born on March 16, 1982; he currently weighs about 90kg and is about 1.85 metres tall. He plays in the forward position and wears jersey number 4 in the Port Adelaide colours. He had a very vibrant and interesting early life. He started playing football at the local level where he featured for a number clubs before getting drafted into the Australian Football League (AFL) where he currently plays for Port Adelaide Power in the AFL premiership. He was drafted in the first round of the 2000 national draft where he was pick number 8. He is currently playing in the same club with his cousin Marlon Motlop and he is the older brother of Steve Motlop who plays for Geelong.

Early Football Career

Daniel had a very robust early football playing career. He starred for a number of local sides before he was eventually drafted into the AFL. It is reported that he played for the Wanderers in the Northern Territory of Australia and also with North Adelaide in South Australia. He was eventually drafted in the first round of 2000 AFL national draft. He was picked by North Melbourne in the draft and played a utility and versatile role by featuring as a defender as well as a forward in the team. He made his debut in the club and in AFL in 2001 where he played till the of the 2005 season. He was traded to Port Adelaide Power in 2005 as a result of Daniels desire to go back to South Australia.

Professional Football Career/Achievements

Daniel moved to South Australia after the transfer deal was concluded, and has been playing there till date. During the 2007 season he had a number of challenging situations as a result of the injuries he sustained; but he managed to overcome them all. He sustained an injury to his ankle during the first round and later during the ninth round, he fractured his collar bone. In spite of all of these besetting injuries, he was able to return to action in round 13 in the game against Brisbane. He was able to get a Goal of the Year nomination from one of the goals he scored.

He had improved tremendously over the few years he had spent in Port Adelaide Power and during the 2008 AFL season, he ranked 10th on the list of most goals kicked in the AFL in addition to a nomination for the Goal of the Year award and the end of the season. He also came third in the Best and Fairest Awards for the club as well as a Dream Team selection. Daniel was also able to make the 2008 International Rules series team. He was also the leading Goalkicker for the 2008 season in his club with about fifty (57) votes. He has been able to garner about 18 Brownlow votes to date.

During the 2009 season, Motlop was firing on all cylinders averaging about two goals per match. But he ended up playing about eleven games only missing the remaining games of the season in second half as a result of a fractured ankle injury. He was out of play for a while as a result of surgery till round seven of the 2010 season when he returned back to action kicking about three goals. With an impressive pre-season performance, Daniel is poised to display an amazing performance during the 2011 season.