Danger praises Crows’ season
GEELONG star and former Crow Patrick Dangerfield says Adelaide are the best team in the AFL.
He says they have been all season.
And they run a lot deeper than star midfielder Rory Sloane, who had starred in their last meeting – a 21-point Round 18 win by the Crows.
What’s more, the 50,000strong crowd will take some quietening. But Dangerfield still thinks Geelong can win tonight’s preliminary final and, with it, a place in the grand final at the minor premiers’ expense.
“Our best is good enough,” Dangerfield said.
Having never played in a grand final, the Brownlow Medallist says the battle of the season’s top-two is the biggest game of his career.
Dismissing pre-game jibes from Josh Jenkins and other ex-teammates as “tongue in cheek”, Dangerfield made clear his respect for Adelaide.
“They’ve been the best side all year and play a really strong brand of footy,” he said.
“Adelaide are far more than Rory Sloane. We understand he’s a gun of the comp.
“So’s Matt Crouch who was All-Australian this year. And there’s many others. Tommy Lynch has had a really good season. They’ve got so many attacking weapons off half-back.
“(Adelaide in Round 18) the scoreboard flattered us.
“But I think we’ve been really competitive against the best sides and we showed that on the weekend.”
Geelong’s last-out defeat of Sydney erased any lingering doubts over whether the Cats belonged in the top four.
Dangerfield was deployed forward in the semi-final, unsettling the favoured Swans.
He wasn’t giving anything away as to his positioning against the Crows.
“I don’t think it’s going to be back pocket,” he said.
“It’ll be midfield and forward depending on the flow of the game.”
The 27-year-old has returned to Adelaide twice for Geelong, meaning he can prepare him for the inevitable onslaught from 50,000 fans.