“It’s a way for everyone to let their hair down,” Danny Younan says of his popular role hosting Coburg TV.
“As soon as the microphone and the camera come out, it takes that pressure off a bit for 15 minutes or 20 minutes. Everyone’s having a laugh.”
But Coburg TV is important to Younan for another reason. Along with ongoing support from family and teammates, the weekly segment helped the 22-year-old stay active and involved around the club during his recovery from an ACL injury in 2013.
“When I tore my ACL, I still didn’t miss any sessions. I’d get to training early, before everyone else, so I can get my gym out of the way and then I could focus on Coburg TV,” Younan explains. “So coming back from my knee, that was a big part of me getting back because that filed a gap for me. “
Younan wanted to return from injury as a better player and he did – earning his senior VFL debut in round 1 of 2014. Despite having now consolidated a senior spot, the ex-Taylors Lakes small forward is still looking to improve.
“Peter German put a lot of time and effort into me and stuck fat with me so it was more repaying the favour to him over the pre-season. I ended up digging deeper this pre-season and got myself a lot fitter and lost a few kilograms.“
German wanted Younan to be able to play higher up the ground and get to more contests in order to create more opportunities for himself and the team – similar to the role of Hawthorn star small forward Paul Puopolo.
“That’s someone I can really model my game on,” Younan says of Puopolo. “I want to become like that in the next couple of years.”
“I’ve still got a long way to go to do that, especially the way he tackles with such ferocity and gets at least 35 pressure acts a game. I look up to him.”
Younan has kicked six goals in the opening two rounds and says that a strong on-field and off-field relationship with other forwards, such as Lech Featherstone, is “vital” to the overall performance and success of Coburg’s forward unit. And, having now spent a whole season playing together and boosted by new talent, he believes the forward line will only keep getting better.
As well as his goal-kicking prowess, a humble and appreciative Younan has been recognised as a leader among the Lions. He was elevated from the leadership group to vice-captain in 2015 and describes his new role as a “massive privilege”. Younan seeks leadership inspiration from two tough captains – Geelong’s Joel Selwood and Coburg’s own Nick Carnell – and wants to inspire younger players with his on-field actions .
“All I really want to do – and I’ve said this from the start of pre-season – is to play my role as best I can for the footy club,” he says.
“As long as I can play my role and take a few other people with me in the forward line – whether it’s the likes of Josh Cauchi or Liam Brandt – and try to get them up as well.”
With Coburg’s strong culture, depth of talent and growing belief in season 2015, Younan says the Lions expect the F-word – finals.
“With the close bunch we have and the way we play for each other, you never know what can happen.”
