Dean Gore could be perfect Patrick Dangerfield replacement, says Brenton Phillips

SANFL high performance manager Brenton Phillips says Adelaide has cleverly found its Patrick Dangerfield replacement in Dean Gore.

SANFL high performance manager Brenton Phillips says Adelaide has cleverly found its Patrick Dangerfield replacement in Dean Gore.

Phllips has described Sturt product Gore — the deal maker in the Dangerfield trade to Geelong — as a mini version of Dangerfield and a yet-to-be-proven replica of Cats captain Joel Selwood.

He says the Crows have been well compensated for losing superstar 2015 club champion Dangerfield to Geelong, having also been dealt national draft picks nine and 28.

Adelaide handed pick 50 to the Cats to seal the deal.

“In lots of ways he’s pretty similar to Dangerfield,’’ said Phillips, who oversaw 19-year-old Gore’s development in SA’s championship-winning under-18 side last year.

“He really likes winning inside contested ball, he loves the contested stuff and he’s very good at it.

“He crunches his tackles and from a contested ball situation he’s going to be critical to Adelaide’s midfield development.

“He’s a very good footballer who probably hasn’t got the explosive pace of Dangerfield but he’s a much better kick — he just kicks the ball so well.

“Dean’s a really good get for the Adelaide Football Club.’’

Phillips described strong-bodied midfielder Gore as a “quiet, unassuming type who isn’t a chest-pounder but who just gets the job done’’.

“I’ve made the comparison with Dangerfield but there’s also a lot of Joel Selwood in Dean with the way he goes about his football;’’ he said.

Phillips said the 183cm, 86kg Gore, who did not play an AFL game in his debut season at Geelong this year, could be a 200-game player for the Crows.

“And he’s got the ability to feature regularly in Adelaide’s top-10 in its best and fairest award because he’ll be that Mr Consistent type of player who understands his role, likes to play team-structured football and he’ll do whatever he can to help the team,’’ he said.

From Hahndorf in the Adelaide Hills, Gore played 12 league games for Sturt in 2014 but slipped to pick 55 in last year’s national draft because of concerns over his speed.

But his skills were on display at the draft combine where he was a joint winner of the goalkicking test.

“Our recruiting team rated Dean highly in the lead up to last year’s draft and he was on the verge of playing AFL football in his debut year,” Crows head of football David Noble said.

Gore averaged 21 disposals, four clearances and six tackles in the VFL this year. He was on the cusp of an AFL debut early in the season before suffering a shoulder injury that forced him to miss seven weeks.

By getting pick nine from the Cats as part of the Dangerfield deal the Crows could be in position to grab one of the three most highly sought after Croweaters at the draft — West Adelaide utility Aaron Francis, Central District midfielder/forward Wayne Milera and North Adelaide forward Ryan Burton.

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