Danger’s touching words buoy Betts
EDDIE Betts has revealed the touching words former teammate Patrick Dangerfield said to him after the Crows conquered Geelong in Friday night’s preliminary final.
As Betts was fighting back tears after realising he was into his first AFL grand final, he said Dangerfield told him he deserved it more than anyone.
“Obviously I was still emotional after the game and he came up to me, I’m pretty close with Danger, and he said to me ‘if anyone deserves this you’re the one, I’m proud of you and just enjoy it’,” Betts told FIVEaa yesterday morning.
“I thought that was very nice, because we wanted to make it uncomfortable for Geelong and Danger as well when they come to play here at Adelaide Oval and that’s what we did.”
The oldest and most experienced player in Adelaide’s team, in his 13th season of league footy, said he has watched the grand final every year of his career and was still coming to terms with the fact that he will be playing on the last Saturday in September against Richmond.
“It was tears of joy (after the game), being in the system for 13 years ... to finally get there it’s unreal, I’m still pinching myself,” Betts said.
Betts said his side’s pressure was key to the win over the Cats and he was so proud of young forward Charlie Cameron who kicked 5.1 in a career-best performance.
“We knew we had to put the pressure on, get on the scoreboard early and when the crowd gets involved they were unbelievable,” he said.
“For Charlie to come out and play like that it’s been unreal, he has been playing some good games but it always took one game until he goes ‘bang’ and breaks the game open.
“It’s great confidence for him going into next week and knowing he can play good against quality sides.”