Toast Sir Patrick F Dangerfield

[Jose_Reyes]

I'm lucky enough to be flying to Adelaide for the Crows Vs Cats match! Does anyone know which end the Geelong cheer squad will be sitting on?

We are northern end, left of screen on TV. I will be in this area in row H, sec 146! I am an Adelaide geelong member so also am looking forward to getting involved in this one! If any cat fans want to have a beer, i'll be seated in this area and will be in the city for a few hours before the bounce!

 

[OverTheTop]

We are northern end, left of screen on TV. I will be in this area in row H, sec 146! I am an Adelaide geelong member so also am looking forward to getting involved in this one! If any cat fans want to have a beer, i'll be seated in this area and will be in the city for a few hours before the bounce!

Thanks Jose, appreciate it.

 

[Jose_Reyes]

Hey peeps. Didn't know where else to post this but given the topic of this thread I thought here was the most appropriate place. I've made the late decision to travel over to the Adelaide game with 3 others who would love to stick it to the crows fans should paddy put in a blinder. Only problem is there doesn't seem to be any tickets left besides g/a. Dose anybody know if there's usually tickets released closer to the match or am I pretty much screwed? Any information would be appreciated.

Contact the club. I am an interstate member and was able to book 2 reserved seats. Unsure if full geelong victorian members get this access but may be worth a try

 

[hbk_aus]

Ablett rarely made mistakes and that is what separates him from the rest. Even kicking for goal he was exceptionally accurate from all angles.
Obviously his disposal use leaves Dangerfield for dead as Danger butchers it on a regular basis.
What is impressing me at the moment is Dangerfield's ability to beat the heavy tags. This is nothing new as he did it at Adelaide for a quite a few seasons in a row. It seems as though he's right now at his absolute physical prime where tagging him can only work for a limited time before he eventually overpowers you.

It's like Ablett passed over the torch to Fyfe for a couple of years and now it's Dangerfield's time to pick up the slack while Fyfe sits out the year.

Agree completely with the disposal comparison Bobby, it is the one thing that puts GAJ at a higher level. He hardly wastes a touch and has always been that way. Danger sometimes seems to be going to quickly for his own good and struggles to control the ball drop. Still so f'ing happy he is ours though!

 

[FredLeDeux]

Agree completely with the disposal comparison Bobby, it is the one thing that puts GAJ at a higher level. He hardly wastes a touch and has always been that way. Danger sometimes seems to be going to quickly for his own good and struggles to control the ball drop. Still so f'ing happy he is ours though!

Some of the difference in disposal accuracy can be explained by the fact that Dangerfield gets a lot more of his possessions in congestion than does Ablett, ie his contested to uncontested possession ratio is much higher over the bulk of their respective careers.
Ablett's still a better kick, however.

 

[hbk_aus]

Some of the difference in disposal accuracy can be explained by the fact that Dangerfield gets a lot more of his possessions in congestion than does Ablett, ie his contested to uncontested possession ratio is much higher over the bulk of their respective careers.
Ablett's still a better kick, however.

Very true Fred, and Ablett is more of a handballer in that situation as well. But Ablett seems a lot more balanced in general field kicking.

 

[FredLeDeux]

Very true Fred, and Ablett is more of a handballer in that situation as well. But Ablett seems a lot more balanced in general field kicking.

Yes, I'd back Ablett's kicking over Dangerfield's every time.

 

[randyzany]

Agree completely with the disposal comparison Bobby, it is the one thing that puts GAJ at a higher level. He hardly wastes a touch and has always been that way. Danger sometimes seems to be going to quickly for his own good and struggles to control the ball drop. Still so f'ing happy he is ours though!

Danger is the more explosive player/athelete, he has the acceleration that few footy players have, rioli is the only other player that comes to mind in that regard.

gaj has more in common with the likes of mitchell who posses excellent awareness and regularly evade opponents with an uncanny matrix-like ability to position their bodies in a way that constantly wrong foots their opponents coupled with an unbelievable core body strength due to their medium size stature that makes it incredibly difficult to bring them down in a tackle.

However I do dispute that gaj is a cleaner user of the ball, as he just tends to opt for the safer options such as kicking/hadballing laterally to his teammates rather than taking a more direct approach that percentage-wise he would be less likely to pull of.

Danger on the other hand is not as obsessed with his efficiency stats and take risks with kicks and disposals almost every chance he gets, putting the opposition under the pump relentlessly.

That's why he's comfortably the better player IMO, Danger's focus is always on what's best for the team and not what's gonna help him attract the maggots vote and the individual medal that they award. He's also not trying to embellish his resume to demand more coin for his next contract, the fact that he's playing for Geelong for a lot less that he could have earnt at the crows is testament to that.

 

[hbk_aus]

Danger is the more explosive player/athelete, he has the acceleration that few footy players have, rioli is the only other player that comes to mind in that regard.

gaj has more in common with the likes of mitchell who posses excellent awareness and regularly evade opponents with an uncanny matrix-like ability to position their bodies in a way that constantly wrong foots their opponents coupled with an unbelievable core body strength due to their medium size stature that makes it incredibly difficult to bring them down in a tackle.

However I do dispute that gaj is a cleaner user of the ball, as he just tends to opt for the safer options such as kicking/hadballing laterally to his teammates rather than taking a more direct approach that percentage-wise he would be less likely to pull of.

Danger on the other hand is not as obsessed with his efficiency stats and take risks with kicks and disposals almost every chance he gets, putting the opposition under the pump relentlessly.

That's why he's comfortably the better player IMO, Danger's focus is always on what's best for the team and not what's gonna help him attract the maggots vote and the individual medal that they award. He's also not trying to embellish his resume to demand more coin for his next contract, the fact that he's playing for Geelong for a lot less that he could have earnt at the crows is testament to that.

Dont agree with any of that. Opinions hey.

 

[randyzany]

Never thought I see the day that a regular on the Geelong board wouldn't have something positive to say about gaj.

You're entitled to your opinion but to me it's obvious that gaj has great core body strength, and a freak at wrong footing opponents that allow him to get away time and time again. It's why he's able to accumulate the ridiculous high number of posseies he has for the last 5 or 6 years resulting in multiple maggot medals.

 

[hbk_aus]

Never thought I see the day that a regular on the Geelong board wouldn't have something positive to say about gaj.

You're entitled to your opinion but to me it's obvious that gaj has great core body strength, and a freak at wrong footing opponents that allow him to get away time and time again. It's why he's able to accumulate the ridiculous high number of posseies he has for the last 5 or 6 years resulting in multiple maggot medals.

No, i highlighted the bits i didnt agree with. The first paragraph or so about body strength i agree with.

 

[xtatik222k]

Gary Ablett is the best player of our generation. Hands down.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

Gary Ablett is the best player of our generation. Hands down.

Depends on generation.
Mine includes Ablett Snr and Lethal.

 

[candiehappy]

Depends on generation.
Mine includes Ablett Snr and Lethal.

and a couple of posters who go back to Polly's days.

 

[Catman]

Contact the club. I am an interstate member and was able to book 2 reserved seats. Unsure if full geelong victorian members get this access but may be worth a try

I'm heading over also, and us Victorian members get no benefit. We just had to buy whatever was available.

 

[Farmer2Goggin]

and a couple of posters who go back to Polly's days.

..............you rang ?
Time for my meds..............

 

[Jose_Reyes]

I'm heading over also, and us Victorian members get no benefit. We just had to buy whatever was available.

So you didnt even get to sit in the geelong designated area?

 

[Catman]

So you didnt even get to sit in the geelong designated area?

Do you mean the cheer squad area? Other than that there wasn't a designated area.

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

 

[BIGANT]

Is it the rushed kick under pressure that questions pfd ? i'm not sure what game it was but, either ess or the one b4...danger had some heat from the opposition he wasn't "hot" but he kicked across his body to hawk leading out on the opposite flank. It was class

Sent from my SM-G900I using Tapatalk

 

[BIGANT]

Imagine the crowd if Danger puts Ablett down with a huge bump straight down the middle, fairly of course

The new golden boy cleaning up the old golden boy. Wowee that'd be good to see

And bt will calling for triple m or 7

 

[Sttew]

How good was Paddy last week in the 3Q I think when he burst out of the centre at full speed, with the ball in one hand and with his other hand he is gesticulating to players upfield about where he was placing the ball. Such control and authority....

 

[Jose_Reyes]

Do you mean the cheer squad area? Other than that there wasn't a designated area.

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

I was first being placed in a section to the south end, then to the right. 2nd tier. It was $48 - I figured a few hundred cats fans would have taken these first. I then left it two weeks to book, came back and this area was gone (sold out obviously) and only tickets left in 146 northern end for $24 as half price (interstate member).

 

[Son_Of_God29]

Does anybody have a copy of the article fron the HS this week about when PFD made up his mind to come home?

The story is behind the bloody pay wall

 

[mac_cat]

Does anybody have a copy of the article fron the HS this week about when PFD made up his mind to come home?

The story is behind the bloody pay wall

Just google the following, and click on the link from Google, it bypasses the paywall:
"I WANTED to tell Adelaide midway through last year that I was leaving"

Quite an interesting read, he concludes that the AFL isn't ready to have players announce they're moving mid-season, and although he selfishly wanted to tell everyone once he made up his mind, it wouldn't've been fair to the Adelaide club, teammates and supporters. But he also said the constant speculation made it difficult, and he didn't want to mislead people when they asked him about it, but no way around that.

 

[Catgirl]

Does anybody have a copy of the article fron the HS this week about when PFD made up his mind to come home?

The story is behind the bloody pay wall

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...g/news-story/13883af9a70ca8e41f6d95bdddd0316f

I WANTED to tell Adelaide midway through last year that I was leaving.

Enough was enough.

After going back and forth a hundred times about what I was going to do, once the final decision was made I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to cleanse the soul, tell the world so we all could move on.

The constant speculation was wearing everyone down and I thought the best way to make it all go away was to tell the truth and in my head I figured all parties would be better off.

Thankfully, my manager Paul Connors disagreed.

“Hang on, cool your jets and let’s have a think about this,” were his sage words of advice.

I thought we were all mature enough to handle a player coming out and stating his intention to move on, but the reality is the AFL industry isn’t ready for it.

In a way I now realise I was selfishly looking to shed the burden that I’d been carrying around for a long time.

But the bigger picture of how it would impact on the club, the management, the coaching staff, my teammates and the supporters had to be taken into account and that’s what Paul calmly explained.

The AFL needs to brace itself because I have no doubt in the near future a player will announce mid-season his intentions to move elsewhere.

It simply wouldn’t have been in the best interests of the football club for me to come clean as we had a finals campaign on the horizon and everyone’s energies needed to be focused on that.

Should it be this way?

For years the NRL has had players signing with opposition clubs, sometimes up to 12 months ahead, and then having no issues in playing out the season at their current clubs.

I’m with AFL boss Gillon McLachlan on this one — I don’t like it as I think it’s a bad look for the game.

But in saying that, the AFL needs to brace itself because I have no doubt in the near future a player will announce mid-season his intentions to move elsewhere.

It will take a really headstrong, courageous person to do it, and he’d need to have a strong football club behind him, but I can see it happening.

My teammate Lachie Henderson was a trailblazer in a sense last year and gave us a snapshot into the future with his departure from Carlton.

He unfairly copped it for being upfront about his future a couple of weeks out from the end of the season.

It was a messy situation which confirmed as a competition we’re not ready for it yet.

Would I change anything about how my own situation went down? Of course, there are things I’d change.

You never want to mislead people, but the reality is you’re forced to not always reveal what you’re intending to do.

The hardest thing is dealing with your teammates because you want to be really honest with them, but I was so lucky that they gave me my space.

A lot of them had been through what I was experiencing and had an appreciation of the issues I was dealing with.

They knew that my love for the Adelaide Football Club could never be questioned, but there was more to it than that. Everyone has a family so they understood the situation.

As much as you say that it doesn’t become a burden, it does — big time.

In interviews you’d trot out the line that you weren’t thinking about it and were focused on your footy, but the reality is it’s always in the back of your mind because it’s such an enormous decision.

Every player who was out-of-contract and left a club last season will say the same thing because now there is this huge amount of mental space which is free and you can fill it with fun stuff ... like surfing for example.

You never want to mislead people, but the reality is you’re forced to not always reveal what you’re intending to do.

The big question for some is does the burden impact on your performance?

I think for some players it would and I totally understand that, but I got used to it and didn’t feel that it impacted on my actions on the field.

What I did find amusing was the amount of people who were declaring that I was gone, some trying to claim it 18 months out.

In the situation that I found myself in there are so many decisions that get made, get unmade and then remade.

What people don’t get is that the amount of times your mind can change throughout a year.


The temptation to say, ‘That’s it, I’m done’, is constantly there but in actual fact your mind swings back and forth constantly — more times than people would imagine.

The moment I told Adelaide that I wanted to move to Geelong wasn’t planned.

I enjoyed a great relationship with football boss David Noble and it was just over one of our regular coffee catch-ups near the end of the season that it came out.

“C’mon, what’s going on?” he asked.

I told him where the situation was at and we discussed everything there and then.

At the end of it he said: “All right, but it doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying to convince you to stay.”

We were open and honest with each other and it speaks volumes about the people at Adelaide and Geelong given how smoothly everything was worked out.

Telling my teammates was tough, some harder than others, some were done face-to-face, others over the phone.

They were bloody hard conversations to have and the toughest was with Nathan Van Berlo.

I have never been so nervous because I idolised him. You wouldn’t meet a nicer person who was universally admired at that football club.

We caught up for a coffee and I hated that conversation. Funnily enough a few years earlier it had been VB and I sitting down with Kurt Tippett trying to convince him to stay.

At the time I was in my early 20s and you think this is an easy decision, just stay here with your mates and keep playing footy.

It’s not until you get older that you understand there is so much more to life.

The other tough conversation was with Rory Sloane.

I went down to his house by the beach, it was a beautiful day so we went for a dip in the water and it was actually quite idyllic, sitting there on the beach in the sun.

We’d come through together at the same time, played alongside each other and had a great rapport on and off the field.

I explained everything to him and he’d actually gone through a similar thing before signing his new contract so he understood where I was coming from.

Next Friday night is going to be weird when I line-up beside them in opposition colours for the first time.

It’s been bizarre watching the Crows because you pick up little football things that you’ve spoken about in team meetings like exiting the stoppage a particular way or the movement of the ball.

I thought I would be more negative towards them and find it hard to enjoy their success, but I’ve actually liked watching them play this season.

You like to see them succeed for the people involved but obviously I don’t want to see them in a Grand Final ... I think the Cats need to do that first.

While there will be a lot of hype leading up to Friday night, knowing the Adelaide group they will be more focused on winning the game than worrying about me.

As former Adelaide coach Neil Craig liked to say: “You are now the enemy and you will be treated as such.”

I expect to be treated as such.