AFL 2022: All the news ahead of the Thursday night blockbuster between Geelong and Melbourne
Patrick Dangerfield has become accustomed to playing with niggles but, after a long stint on the sidelines, here’s why he was almost ready to bang down his coach’s door.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Patrick Dangerfield says the word embrace might be stretching it.
His famed “mini pre-season” or extensive training block as he recovered from a lingering calf problem is being hailed as a game changer in terms of having the Brownlow Medallist at the peak of his powers in September.
Dangerfield likes the theory but doesn’t hide how much looking at the greater good — and not playing in games which he previously would — drove him mad.
“Embrace is the wrong word. I didn’t embrace it at all,” the Cats vice-captain says.
“But I definitely respect our medicos however if it lasted another week and we were clashing, I would have been banging down Chris (Scott’s) door.
“You do get to that stage where it’s like, ‘All right what’s best for where we are at? What is the best rehab?’ It sucks but you get through it to get you back playing.
“Then when you feel really good and you feel powerful, it’s like. ‘Yep, that is the whole reasoning behind the philosophy of it’. To actually come back and feel great, that is the whole point.”
Watch every blockbuster AFL match this weekend Live & Ad-Break Free In-Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >
Specifically it took exactly 15 seconds for Dangerfield to feel good again in his return game against North Melbourne on Saturday night.
The Cats superstar started in at the first bounce, sharked the opening tap, accelerated towards the edge of the square and drilled the goal from 55 metres out.
“Sometimes it just bounces your way, the ball bounces instead of bobbles.” Dangerfield said.
“It was nice and it just reminds you how much footy means, just getting back to playing after being out for a while.”
Dangerfield, 32, strained his calf earlier in the season but then re-injured it in Round 10 against Port Adelaide which forced Geelong’s medical team to get creative with one of their main assets.
That meant holding back a player who throughout his decorated 294-game career had become used to playing with niggles, almost wearing it as a badge of honour that he could carry injuries yet still produce.
This heroic attitude has a life span and over recent finals appearances both the Cats and Dangerfield have limped into September and therefore been unable to produce optimal output.
Something had to give and the nagging calf strain could actually turn out to be a blessing in disguise for both parties.
“I think the narrative is around Geelong is always, ‘We’ll judge them in finals’,” Dangerfield says.
“We obviously have to get there, we have to play good footy, tick the boxes that we need to do but we are aware we need to, and want to, nail it at the back end.
“We are cognisant of that, I certainly am and hopefully this gives us a good platform for that.
“Through the first half of the year we had good availability without being great, we were missing quite a few, but this back end, combining with some tweaks game-style wise … I feel like we are in a really nice place as we head towards the business end of the year.
“And for me personally I will hit the end of the year without the same sort of miles in the legs compared to previous seasons.”
Danger ‘confident’ Cats can go all the way
—Scott Gullan
Patrick Dangerfield is more confident than he’s ever been about Geelong’s premiership credentials ahead of its showdown with reigning champion Melbourne.
“Confidence is probably the overarching repeating theme when I look at our team,” Dangerfield said.
“We‘ve got some wonderful players, we’ve got a game style that is exciting to watch and exciting to play.
“That gives you the confidence that we are going to give it a crack.”
The Brownlow Medallist has played in four preliminary finals and the 2020 grand final since arriving at Kardinia Park from Adelaide but senses there is something different about the Cats 2022 outfit.
“It is hard to compare season on season, the competition changes, our squad changes but I feel as confident as any previous year,” he said.
“I look across our lines and I don’t feel like we have got any particular significant weakness.”
The Cats vice-captain says a Thursday night home blockbuster against the Demons has come at the perfect time for his team which has won its past six games and sits second on the ladder.
“These are the games you really want to play,” Dangerfield said.
”Up against the best, we will find out a great deal about ourselves and where we sit.
“While it doesn’t dictate the whole season for us, we have got to this point where Melbourne are obviously a terrific team, had a great year last year, they are the benchmark, and we give ourselves a shot.
“We’re either going to be triumphant or we’ll go down swinging.”
Dangerfield isn’t reading too much into last year’s preliminary final shocker against Melbourne which they lost by 83 points in Perth.
It was revealed later that almost half of the Cats players were suffering from a virus leading into the game.
But he will be calling on the memories of the round 23 clash at GMHBA Stadium where Melbourne skipper Max Gawn kicked a goal after the siren to claim an epic victory.
“There is a romanticism around last time (in the preliminary final). What does it mean? Retribution yada, yada. But every game is different, every year is different and the ground is different,” Dangerfield said.
“The caveat to that is we are aware of what happened last time we played them down here. This is our fortress, our home and we want to protect it and that’s front of mind.”
The Cats will wear a retro-themed jumper for the game – which is a favourite of Dangerfield‘s – with the superstar midfielder confident his body is ready for the second half of the season.
He returned from an extended training block because of a calf problem against North Melbourne on Saturday night – his first game since Round 10 – and kicked the opening goal of the game inside 15 seconds.
10 reasons why Cats fans are too hard on coach Chris Scott
—Scott Gullan
You can almost set your clock by it. Every year around the middle of September Geelong fans start to vent.
And it‘s the same thing every time.
What is Chris Scott doing? Why aren’t they doing anything different? Home and away champs become finals chumps.
Don‘t worry, Cats fans are very well versed on that saying that a sure sign of madness is doing the same thing over and over again.
That‘s what they’ve been accusing the Geelong coach of doing for much of the past decade, despite him having an extraordinary win/loss record. In fact, Scott’s team has finished worse than fourth only once in the past six years.
In anyone‘s language that is a stunning era of success but with no silverware since Scott’s first year in 2011, the natives are restless which brings us to 2022.
Once again Geelong are up the pointy end after 16 rounds, sitting pretty in second position ahead of a top-of-the-table clash with Melbourne on Thursday night.
Before the cynics jump up and down saying you can‘t read anything into Geelong until September, here are the 10 reasons why these Cats are very different.
1. HARD-NOSED MIDDLE MAN
Tom Atkins has brought an edge to the middle of the ground since his move there in Round 11. In the first 10 rounds of the season the small defender played eight per cent game time in the midfield, over the past six weeks that has soared to 88 per cent. His centre bounce attendances have gone from 0.8 to 19.2 per game.
2. HAIL KING SAM
He won‘t win the Rising Star because Nick Daicos is a freak but Sam De Koning is a lock for runner-up given his ability to stand up at centre half-back has enabled Scott to do so many other things with players like Mark Blicavs in particular. De Koning’s key defender profile has him above average is three categories – disposals (12.8), intercept marks (2.7) and intercept possessions (7.3) – while he is considered elite for contested possessions (6.3).
From Round 7-15 the 21-year-old had the third most intercept possessions in the competition (71) one ahead of Hawthorn star James Sicily and only behind teammates Tom Stewart (78) and GWS Giant Sam Taylor (77).
3. RUN MARK RUN
There was a time not that long ago where the thought of Mark Blicavs not playing fullback scared Cats fans. After dabbling as a ruckman/follower earlier in his career, he became the key man in the back half. But with De Koning stepping up, the development of Jack Henry and the cool heads of Tom Stewart and Zach Tuohy, the former steeplechaser is no longer required to save the day.
Given the ruck position continues to be an issue because of the up and down nature of Rhys Stanley, Scott has been able to use Blicavs as effectively another midfielder/mobile ruckman. Since Round 8 he has played just two per cent game time in defence compared to 68 in Rounds 1-7. His ruck presence has increased from 24 per cent to 59 per cent with the wing increasing from 8 per cent to 35 per cent of game time.
4. CHANGING OF THE GUARD
The middle of the ground has seen plenty of new faces go through. The roll call of centre bounce attendees from 2021 to 2022 tells a significant story. Captain Joel Selwood time in the middle is down 16 per cent, Mitch Duncan down 40 per cent while tagger Mark O‘Connor is minus 217 per cent. As mentioned Atkins is up 96 per cent, Brandan Parfitt 24 per cent, Max Holmes 46 per cent with rookie Cooper Stephens averaging 5.4 per game when he’s played.
5. OLD CATS NEW TRICKS
Mitch Duncan and Isaac Smith are two of the great wingmen of the past decade but they‘re spending less time there. Duncan in particular has gone back to defence with his time there increasing from 10 per cent to 77 per cent between Rounds 8-16. As a consequence his wing presence has gone down from 27 per cent to 11 per cent.
Smith is starting forward more, his percentage up from 28 to 41 with the wing coming down from 68 to 56. The veteran‘s midfield forward profile shows how important he is to how the Cats function He is rated elite in uncontested possessions (16.1 per game), metres gained (481), inside 50s (5.1) and marks (6.5) while above average in disposals (21.6).
6. SUPERSTAR MANAGEMENT
Telling Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield to not play has previously been almost impossible. The reliance on these stars even if they‘ve been banged up has been too strong previously. Selwood has been rested three times this year while Dangerfield was deliberately held back after completing a mini pre-season following a calf problem early in the season. Don’t underestimate the impact of premiership hero Harry Taylor, the new head of medical and conditioning services, in this space.
7. ROAM JEREMY ROAM
For starters Jeremy Cameron was never fit last year so this has really been the first time Scott has had his full array of tricks at his disposal. The obvious point with the former Giant is his goals – he‘s leading the Coleman Medal with 46 – but his impact further up the ground has become important.
“Releasing Cameron up the ground when you have got (Gary) Rohan and Dangerfield in the side works because then you don‘t lose out up forward,” one opposition analyst said. ”Cameron plays his best footy when he gets up the ground and then races his opponent back. Look at his first All-Australian year, that’s when he’s most comfortable.”
8. TERRIFIC TYSON
There are plenty of feel-good stories in the AFL this season but Tyson Stengle is right up the top. He has brought so much to his third club with his pure goal sense (31 goals) something the Cats lacked. His partnership with Brad Close and Gryan Miers, who both play more up the ground, has a far better look than veterans Luke Dahlhaus and Shaun Higgins who previously assumed those positions.
9. PLAY THE KIDS
The fans have been screaming this until they are blue in the face and Scott has quietly ensured the next generation are getting plenty of airtime. Geelong has player four debutants which ranks them equal fifth in the competition behind West Coast (9).
10. NO ROBOTS
Finally the Cats have caught up with the quicker ball movement trend.
“What they are doing is getting into practice for the finals,” a rival assistant coach said. ”Instead of playing slow and robotic through the year, then that‘s the only way they can play. I think they are actually working on playing a few modes for when they run into the good sides.
“A lot of it is more positional, they have put different guys in different spots who can actually create a bit more.”
Join the conversation
Why not Port, Ken? Swans show exactly why with finals lesson
Ken Hinkley asked his side pre-game, why not us? The answer was shown on the field at the SCG, which is as simple as they’re not good enough to take that last step, writes Matt Turner.
Read more
‘Pretty sad’: NRL ‘should be embarrassed’
In a battle of the footy codes on Friday night in Sydney, the AFL has claimed a huge victory in the heart of the rugby league world.
Read more