Geelong’s Patrick Dangerfield ready to ride the wave of disruption

Geelong superstar is primed to chase an elusive grand final berth in a season of disruption.

Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield at training. Picture: Peter Ristevski

Patrick Dangerfield is missing the surf, feels football lacks soul without the fans and is desperate for a return to normality.

As the Geelong superstar prepares for the 250th game of a decorated career on Friday night, he acknowledged the difficulties of the COVID-19 situation.

As president of the players’ union, the 30-year-old had more to deal with through the season suspension than maintaining his fitness and passing the time.

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Negotiations were challenging early on with the league as the AFLPA sought to secure the best deal for its members in terms of salary cuts. As the face of the union, Dangerfield bore the brunt of criticism of footballers. That tension will flare again over negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

There is discussion surrounding the AFL-wide support for indigenous players concerned about the Black Lives Matter protests that began in America and have spread further afield.

Dangerfield said it was not until he returned to Geelong as a footballer that he learnt about the Wadawurrung lands where the Cats play.

He is hopeful the gestures that occur across the competition in the resumption round will draw attention but is adamant the support of the indigenous community needs to be sustained.

“As an AFL community, it is something we all take really seriously. How can we improve it? How can it not be something that is tokenistic? How can it be something more than that?,” he said

Then there is the focus needed to help the Cats defeat arch rivals Hawthorn in Geelong on Friday night to level their win-loss ledger after they were well beaten by the Giants in March.

Little wonder the Brownlow medallist is keen for a stress-relieving surf, which is among the activities players are currently prevented from doing under the AFL’s COVID-19 guidelines.

“Bloody soon, I hope. The surf has been terrific,” he said.

“We have always said as players we will do our bit to return to play. If that means a stricter set of protocols than what the general public have, then so be it.

“That is our role within the game and our duty to do so. That being said, it would be great to get back and catch a wave.”

As he stood outside Geelong’s GMHBA Stadium on Thursday to discuss his milestone match against Hawthorn, among other matters, he said the lack of fans was stark.

Geelong will play three matches at home over the next four weeks but the stands will be silent without the passionate Cats fans in attendance.

“It is just so different when you run out to nothing,” he said.

“You run out to your theme song and then it is just gone. There are crickets. We will all have to adjust to that …

“It is going to be a season like no other but it reinforces that the lifeblood of what we do is the people who support it and nothing can replace that.”

As Dangerfield said, 2020 will be a season like no other. But the opportunity is there to sate what remains a burning motivation, namely winning a premiership.

“(A premiership) is clearly the overarching reason that you play the game,” he said.

“The longer you play the game, the more you understand just how hard it is to get to. They are hard to win. (Grand finals) are hard to get to. I haven’t been in one. That is still the burning desire.”