Daley recovered from injury to captain Australia in the absence of suspended captain Mal Meninga in the first Test against New Zealand in 1993, kicking the match-saving field goal and saving Australia from an embarrassing 14-13 loss (it was also his second field goal of the game).
Controversy raged in 1995 when Ricky Stuart was preferred for the Canberra captaincy after Meninga's retirement , even though Daley had captained both New South Wales and Australia ahead of Stuart.