Tyrepower Profile: Sam McDaniel

Fresh off the back of inking a new deal with Melbourne United, Sam McDaniel is intent on playing more minutes this season.

The 195cm guard, who averaged just under four minutes per game last year, was in the fortunate position of heading home to Adelaide in the off-season, allowing him to continue to train despite most of his teammates being in lockdown.

He said the extra time on the practice court and in the gym should hold him in good stead ahead of the new campaign.

“As soon as Coronavirus hit in Australia and got semi-serious, I made the decision to go back to Adelaide where my family is,” he told Melbourne United Media.

“It turned out to be a really good decision because I was able to practice, work-out with weights and do all the things I needed to do to stay in shape.

Despite taking longer to re-sign with the club than most of his teammates, McDaniel said he was always intent on linking up with Melbourne United again after debuting for the club last year.

He remains incredibly bullish about the club’s chances this season.

“The gradual increase to (playing) five versus five (at practice) has been great for us,” he said.

“Getting guys up to speed on plays, knowing positions and reading things, it’s been good for us.

“We have a really versatile and a good mix of veterans guys, fresh faces and a few guys in the middle. I think defensively we’re going to be a really good team.

“And then offensively, we’re going to have our nights when we’re unbeatable because of the personnel we’ve got.”

McDaniel didn’t shy away from his ambition to feature more regularly in the Melbourne United side in the future, but never had any real doubts about re-signing with the club for the 2021 season.

“At this stage of my career, I’m looking for a bit more opportunity,” he said.

“But in the back of my mind, I always wanted to come back to Melbourne because of the great fans, teammates and coaching staff.

“I think we’ll have a really good team.”

Make sure you join Sam and Stand With Us for the 2021 season.