Patrick Dangerfield proves the difference between a win or loss for Geelong against Port Adelaide
PATRICK Dangerfield is not Gary Ablett Snr. No-one will ever be, not even his son. But what the reigning Brownlow Medallist did last night, left footy fans breathless.
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THE slow motion replay won’t do it justice.
Patrick Dangerfield did something at the 11-minute mark of the second quarter on Thursday night which would have taken a few of the diehard Geelong fans down memory lane.
They used to pile into Kardinia Park to watch one man, that act alone had a lot of a bloke named Ablett about it.
Back in the 1990s, Cats fans were treated to half-a-dozen moments like that every week from the champion in No.5.
Dangerfield is not Gary Ablett Snr. No-one will ever be Gary Ablett Snr, not even his son.
But what the reigning Brownlow Medallist does is produce those moments.
This one came in front of the brand new stand where the diehards only last week made their new home.
Harry Taylor had marked the ball and Dangerfield was flying past him at full speed which is another level of pace to most mortals.
The handpass wasn’t quick enough to catch him but the superstar didn’t change stride, he just stuck out his left claw and held the ball against his buttock.
As he dodged two Port Adelaide opponents he managed to transfer the ball to his left hand and then produce a beautiful left-foot pass to Tom Hawkins who kicked the Cats third goal of the term.
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It was one of those rare moments where there is a collective gasp and then a distinctive gap before the applause starts.
In fact the previous 10 minutes from Dangerfield were worth the effort of coming to the football on a Thursday night.
After a quiet opening term the superstar clearly decided it was time to inject some energy into a contest which by comparison to the previous week was a snooze fest.
He floated across the front of the pack to take a brilliant mark and then converted from 20m.
Two minutes later there he was again the man, earning a free-kick on the outer wing and then receiving a 50m penalty after Matthew Broadbent inexplicably threw it over his head.
The Cats had kicked themselves out of a decent lead at this stage through inaccuracy. Dangerfield went back and unloaded a perfectly straight drop punt from 50m.
What did we say about moments?
There weren’t too many others for a while, in fact he only had one possession in the next 25 minutes.
Unfortunately a rib injury suffered a month ago has meant these baron patches are more prevalent given his energy levels are limited.
In the final quarter when the game was still in the balance the diehards started to go looking for one.
Early in the term Dangerfield gathered the ball on the boundary line and the crowd literally got out of their seats expecting the banana from 35m to go through. It drifted across the goal for no score.
Geelong needed some moments in the final five minutes.
They’d controlled the game for most of the night yet found themselves behind with a spirited Power outfit refusing to stay down.
Enter Dangerfield.
Two big tackles a couple of minutes apart basically saved his side but that was just the entree’, The main course was, dare we say it, G. Ablett-like.
With less than two minutes of play there was a ball-up just outside the Cats goalsquare with 25 players around the contest.
There was no space, there were bodies flying everywhere and then No. 35 appeared.
With Port players all over him, Dangerfield got the ball to his left boot for the matchwinning goal.
It was THE moment.
Dangerfield could easily win another Brownlow Medal this year. He has been best-on-ground at least three times in the opening 10 rounds.
He should have another two vote game in there while on Thursday night despite the gaps in his output, votes will be on the agenda thanks to 24 touches, 14 contested possessions, eight tackles, five clearances and three goals.
And the diehards will go home knowing they’ll be back next Friday to do it again ... watch one man.
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