Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood partnership benefiting entire Geelong team

SELWOOD and Dangerfield. The newly-formed Geelong dynamic duo is having a hugely positive flow-on effect, writes Dermott Brereton.

Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood already have a strong partnership.

THE great midfields of the modern era have been led by two champions, a dynamic duo side by side.

Collingwood had Pendlebury and Swan. Hawthorn has Hodge and Mitchell. Sydney has Kennedy and Hannebery.

And after just seven games, Geelong has Selwood and Dangerfield.

Joel Selwood has benefited unarguably from Patrick Dangerfield’s proximity this year.

Opposition teams BD (before Dangerfield) would believe that Geelong couldn’t win enough contested ball. Only the fearless captain Selwood could lead the fight.

And if you could cut off the head and dull the effect of the skipper, then the rest would fall into place.

Selwood has always been a beast at winning the contested ball. But equally he has been wonderful on the “outside” as well, using the ball in space.

But he has always been a target. And even though he has gone in and won his own ball by ramming his snout into the trough, when he has got to the outside of the packs his “run-with” or tagger has limited his ball use.

Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield’s partnership has been mutually beneficial. Picture: Tom Huntley

Have a look at Selwood’s numbers this year and you immediately see that he is getting four to five more possessions a game. And those extra possessions are all on the “outside”.

For the first time in a long time, there is no one there tagging him.

History shows us that when a champion player is injected into an already very capable team, it can go one of two ways.

A tagger will always be one step behind a contested ball winner if the ball winner is deep inside the pack.

The tagger might affect the disposal in some small way, but he won’t stop it. But a tagger running side by side against a player on the “outside” will completely stop the disposal happening.

With the scintillating Dangerfield drawing the heat, Selwood has been freed up on the outside.

But it is not all one way traffic. Dangerfield has benefited from Selwood as well.

Danger has for the most part of his career won more than 50 per cent of his footy from contested situations. He has now slightly dropped back to a 50-50 split, yet he is getting just as many possessions as ever before.

He recognises the moment when Selwood is about to win a ball on the inside and he bolts away to get to a dangerous position — and he does it with confidence.

History shows us that when a champion player is injected into an already very capable team, it can go one of two ways.

Even if a new player is slightly better than the original player he is taking the position of, he can sometimes just supply the exact same function. The team isn’t really that much better off.

Jimmy Bartel, Patrick Dangerfield and Joel Selwood.

And the long-serving player suffers from less opportunity and as his output decreases, his discontent can grow.

Dangerfield has had the right effect.

Selwood is getting more of the ball and most importantly, with more space and time.

Steven Motlop has come into his own and is not being asked to win as much of the ball to a point that makes him uncomfortable.

This allows him to run, carry and weave his own blend of sidestepping magic when outside in areas of lighter traffic.

Mitch Duncan’s numbers have risen as well. He can win his own footy also, but he is an excellent outside runner once the team has secured possession.

Danger’s inclusion has allowed Duncan a greater opportunity to be on the outer edge of the stoppages and make a quicker get away. And that translates to another runner in the wave when the ball has been won.

Josh Caddy has increased his output. He now slips to third in line of ball-winning beasts and so is forgotten about by opposition at the stoppages and contests.

Former Geelong great and now western Sydney Giant Stevie Johnson played against his much loved Cats for the first time earlier this year.

He is a showman and the occasion was always something Stevie J was going to embrace with gusto and a bang. He was one of the very best that day.

Steven Motlop and Mitch Duncan have both benefited from Patrick Dangerfield’s arrival.

But even if he didn’t play well, he would have embraced the moment and announced himself in some way. The situation did not overawe him.

When his GWS teammate Ryan Griffin played his first game against his old club he was inhibited and almost apologetic towards the Dogs. The situation got to him.

Brendon Goddard’s first game back against the Saints led to an emotional outpouring after the game.

Some of us can get dangerously aggressive when facing our first club and the emotion can fall over into a silly violent act. It did with myself when I first faced up to Hawthorn.

If ever there was a personality that could handle the heat of 40,000-plus fans voicing their displeasure at Adelaide Oval it is Patrick Dangerfield.

He is enough of a professional to focus on the task at hand.

He is a little bit of a showman, enough to understand the crowd’s emotions and maybe ever so slightly play up to them.

Either way, expect some sort of performance from Paddy — and his new mate, Joel.

Originally published as Patrick Dangerfield, Joel Selwood partnership benefiting entire Geelong team