Big Brother: Daniel Gorringe makes AFL comeback bid after career break

He briefly played in the AFL before giving up his footy dreams.

And now former Big Brother housemate Daniel Gorringe has confirmed his return to the sport.

Speaking to The Herald Sun, the 28-year-old revealed he has enlisted to play again.   

‘I know a lot of mates probably think I am taking the mickey but it’s something I want to do,’ he told the publication.

‘I have kept fit the whole time and if you are looking at someone who knows senior footy and knows how game plans work, I could be a handy pick-up on a list for half a year as back-up.

‘I signed at Powelltown and before that I was at Wandin and Park Orchards. It’s been funny to think my career took off [with Big Brother] after footy but it’s been a great ride.’

Before retiring in 2017, Daniel played 26 games across seven seasons.

In a humorous column for Sportsbet last year, he shared some of the warning signs that players should look out for when they suspect they may be getting delisted.  

Speaking from his own experience of being let go by the Gold Coast Suns in 2015, Daniel explained that a player’s ‘delisting alarm bells should start ringing if they were scheduled to have meetings with other s**t kickers at the same time.’ 

‘You’ll start by meeting with the coaches who will bring in a piece of paper with stats from your year just to drive home the fact how bad you are,’ he wrote.  

After a player is officially delisted, Daniel explained that officials will ‘thank you for the time you have given to the club and wish you all the best’. 

An axed player is then forced to talk about their feelings to a club psychiatrist. 

He recalled telling the health professional: ‘I was just sacked two minutes ago I’m doing pretty s**t.’

After being delisted, Daniel was recruited by Carlton as a free agent, but faced another a setback during the 2017-pre-season when he suffered an Achilles injury.

In 2020, he was a finalist on Channel Seven reality show Big Brother.