Danger 200 up, but flag is focus

The message to our young players is don’t be patient, the time is now PATRICK DANGERFIELD

GEELONG champion Patrick Dangerfield will not let his 200th game be a distraction from the task at hand on Friday night as the Cats look to knock off Richmond and earn a spot in a preliminary final.

Dangerfield will play game No.46 for Geelong on Friday and registers the milestone having played 154 games at Adelaide, but says his only focus is the qualifying final against the third-placed Tigers in front of what is looming as a 90,000-plus crowd.

“It’s special, but I think for us the lure of winning this final is far greater than any individual accomplishment, so while I’m proud to have achieved 200 games, for us it is all about winning,” Dangerfield said.

“It’s finals so this is the most important time of the year and this is why you play the game, to get to the position we’re in.

“It promises to be a great challenge, Richmond has been really solid all season and has played really well at the MCG but we’re up for it, we’re looking forward to it.”

Geelong beat Hawthorn in last year’s qualifying final when Hawk Isaac Smith missed a shot after the siren.

But two weeks later the Cats missed their shot at a grand final when Sydney jumped them, ending Dangerfield’s dream of playing in a premier- ship in his first year at the club since crossing from the Crows.

The reigning Brownlow medallist said while the burn from that match had gone, he was well aware of the importance of making the most of the opportunities that present themselves in finals in order to win a flag.

“You don’t really understand it when you first start, I don’t think, and then after you’ve been in the system a number of years you realise there are only so many opportunities that you might get at it,” Dangerfield said.

“So when you do have them you’ve got to make sure you grab them with both hands. I think that is what the senior players are for in a group, to make sure you understand as a young player that they don’t happen all that often.

“You’re never ready for it, you’ve just got to make the most of that opportunity when you get it. So the message to our young players is don’t be patient, the time is now and anything is possible.”