Essendon coach James Hird believes Father/Son draft selection Joe Daniher may one day become the club’s number one ruckman.

Daniher currently stands at 201cms tall and is renowned for his great agility and marking ability.

“He might develop into a dominant ruckman and that is his number one position,” Hird said.

“At the moment I think he is a very good forward, takes a lot of marks and just a competitor.”

“He is going to end up being a forward/ruckman I think what you need in this day and age is you need that secondary ruckman coming from your forward line and I think that is the role that Joe will play early in on in his career.”

Different to the Hird’s original thoughts when the 18-year-old was drafted he now expects Daniher to be playing regular senior football in 2013.

“He is only a boy so we don’t want to ruin him but he is making us think about playing him a lot more than we were,” Hird said.

“It is very hard with a guy that age and a very tall player as they often take a lot longer to get ready for football.

“You can’t see why he wouldn’t play a lot of football obviously his body has to stand up and we don’t want to put him under too much pressure with his body.”

Daniher’s demeanor towards his football has impressed Hird since he began regular training with the group in November.

“The way he moves on the track and the way he dominates marking contests and gets to contest is quite remarkable for a boy his age.”

“You rarely see a kid of that age wanting to compete so hard against more experienced players.”