Danny Del-Re was a cult hero during his time at Footscray in the early 1990s.
The full-forward kicked 70 goals in 1992 as the Bulldogs progressed to the Preliminary Final before returning 36 goals in 14 games the following season.
But how did his Doggies career get off the ground?
Del-Re has explained that it occurred during a peculiar shower visit from soon-to-be appointed head coach Terry Wheeler prior to the club’s ‘Footscray Fightback’ rally in 1989.
“Ian Rickman, myself and Saade Ghazi got asked to train with the Bulldogs in the ‘89 pre-season heading towards the 1990 year,” he said on SEN’s Bob and Andy.
“If you remember back then, ‘89 was the rally for the Bulldogs. We were almost gone so we had the rally.
“I played against Coburg in the VFL Grand Final and Terry Wheeler was the coach for the Bulldogs reserves.
“We lost by 16 points and after the game I was in the shower and dejected about losing the Grand Final. He was a mad Williamstown player and supporter as well. He came up to me and said if we survive this outpour and if he got the senior job, he’s going to call me to come down to train.
“To his credit, he did, and the rest was history. It was fantastic.”
Overall, Del-Re booted 139 goals in 62 games in the red, white and blue having spent a few years at the club during his under-19 days.
Despite strong goalkicking returns in two of his seasons, Del-Re’s senior career did not flourish as expected and he was done at the Dogs by the end of 1994.
“I was at the Bulldogs when I was 17 and I had two years in the under-19s,” he added.
“I was a little bit overweight and had a couple of injuries here and there so I was asked to move on.
“From there I went to Williamstown for two or three years and that’s when I got drafted.
“So I was 22 when I was first got drafted and played my first senior game, hence why not many games were played because I was getting a bit long in the tooth, I can say.”
During his superb ‘92 season, the former VFA star managed to bag eight majors in a Qualifying Final against Geelong, but admits he may have been shafted one because of an umpiring howler.
It was his biggest haul for Footscray.
“I reckon I kicked nine that day but one was taken off me,” Del-Re recalled.
“It was kicked from Simon Atkins long from the middle. It was a long floater and I sort of used my body to push out Tim McGrath and the elbows sort of come out. I just slightly nudged him, turned around and kicked the goal, and I was so happy and pumped.
“Umpire goes, ‘nah, in the back’, and I was dirty on him. It was a slight push, nothing in it, that was my theory anyway.”
As for lining up at full-forward in a final, Del-Re says there was one thing in the game he experienced which was much more unnerving - Acting as runner for Rodney Eade.
“It was very nerve-racking.”
After his days with the Dogs, Del-Re played for SANFL club South Adelaide under Ken Sheldon before returning to Williamstown in 1996 until 1999.