Analysis Dangerfields drop in form

[Kobe Gryant]

He's not a forward and he never will be. It worked once, when he was in his athletic prime and in all honesty the best player in the competition, while also working as the second tall.

Now that he's deteriorating physically and can't just rely on pure athleticism his lack of forward craft is being exposed, and as mentioned above this becomes even more of an issue when he's the third tall, just ends up getting in Jezza and Hawks way.

The kicking just tops it all off. It's a terrible idea and I don't know why the coaches keep resorting to it.

 

[Jeff76]

He’s pretty cooked, should hang the boots up end of season. His body is knackered.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

He’s pretty cooked, should hang the boots up end of season. His body is knackered.

Contracted until 2025. We have another 50ish games of his to go if he can be fielded

 

[Down at K Park]

They finally came to their senses and rested him. Hopefully he heals up and can return to his best.

 

[Kobe Gryant]

Contracted until 2025. We have another 50ish games of his to go if he can be fielded

Which is strange Imo. Danger has never struck me as a huge footy nuffie. Didn't even really follow footy growing up by all reports.

Could be wrong but I've always seen him as a family man who will go into the media and probably retire with something left in the tank.

Joel's the opposite. We're going to have to drag him off the field.

 

[CatToTheFuture]

Which is strange Imo. Danger has never struck me as a huge footy nuffie. Didn't even really follow footy growing up by all reports.

Could be wrong but I've always seen him as a family man who will go into the media and probably retire with something left in the tank.

Joel's the opposite. We're going to have to drag him off the field.

For better or for worse I think they've picked the guys they want to hold structure over the course of the midfield turnover and I think leadership and coaching probably plays an equal part to on field impact

 

[Romeoh1]

Which is strange Imo. Danger has never struck me as a huge footy nuffie. Didn't even really follow footy growing up by all reports.

Could be wrong but I've always seen him as a family man who will go into the media and probably retire with something left in the tank.

Joel's the opposite. We're going to have to drag him off the field.

Joel and Dangerfield both strike me as footy nuffies - just different sorts. Agree with the rest.

 

[My Tilly]

Which is strange Imo. Danger has never struck me as a huge footy nuffie. Didn't even really follow footy growing up by all reports.

Could be wrong but I've always seen him as a family man who will go into the media and probably retire with something left in the tank.

Joel's the opposite. We're going to have to drag him off the field.

He loves his money and he had an opportunity to sign an extravagant long term contract so why blame any player for that I reckon. It's on our club who continually sign up mature aged players to long contracts.

Dangerfield never had elite skills so we all knew he would struggle to play anywhere other than forward once he declined.

 

[Warhorse]

Been one of Dangerfield biggest critics. Didn't think he was capable of sacrificing his game for the better of the team. Was able to play a team game in the mould of Cotchin. Happy to admit I was wrong. Was bog for mine.

 

[allrighty]

Been one of Dangerfield biggest critics. Didn't think he was capable of sacrificing his game for the better of the team. Was able to play a team game in the mould of Cotchin. Happy to admit I was wrong. Was bog for mine.

Yep he is too often a bigmouth which annoys, but today he was BOG. Smith was great but Danger was better

 

[Pollywaffle]

Yep he is too often a bigmouth which annoys, but today he was BOG. Smith was great but Danger was better

Danger was stiff. 4 quarter effort.
Smith got on the end of some teammates largesse

 

[David the Cat]

I thought Smith deserved it, but by golly, Danger was right there with him.

 

[Mad_Hatter]

I thought Smith deserved it, but by golly, Danger was right there with him.

I had Smith BOG but danger was absolutely outstanding.
Either could have won it.

 

[MisterMarcus]

Danger in the GF was what I love about him when he's at his best: he gets the ball and his first instinct is to slam it forward as far as he possibly can.

None of this dinky kick, sideways handball stuff....he charges out of the centre streaming forward and then belts it long into the F50.

Some people criticise his kicking accuracy, but we saw on Saturday that he created more than few 'chaos ball' moments for the Swans defence: it was on top of them before they were even ready for it.

Rather have the ball banged to within 25m of goal, even if it's a bit of a random outcome, than looking for slow short 'precision' kicks around the centre.

 

[Warhorse]

Danger in the GF was what I love about him when he's at his best: he gets the ball and his first instinct is to slam it forward as far as he possibly can.

None of this dinky kick, sideways handball stuff....he charges out of the centre streaming forward and then belts it long into the F50.

Some people criticise his kicking accuracy, but we saw on Saturday that he created more than few 'chaos ball' moments for the Swans defence: it was on top of them before they were even ready for it.

Rather have the ball banged to within 25m of goal, even if it's a bit of a random outcome, than looking for slow short 'precision' kicks around the centre.

Old Dangerfield has a shot every single time he is within range. Not this version. 6 Goal Assists. More than Sydney. bog

 

[Kyuss]

I think the way he plays he has absolutely smashed himself in previous years and his finals have suffered.
Probably the first time he's played a finals series in good condition body wise.
Now hes a Gary Ayres medalist in a Grand Final winning team.

 

[Zgope1]

perfectly managed for September and rose to the top

 

[The_Koulouriotis_Fan]

Yep he is too often a bigmouth which annoys, but today he was BOG. Smith was great but Danger was better

He’s never a big mouth. Tall poppy syndrome there. I’d say he was quite humble tbh.

Has always wanted team success and helped carry us (too much) in his first few years. This year with great team balance and him not being injured he was able to thrive and drive the team to victory! One of the all time greats at Geelong and like Scott has never deserved the vitriol he cops

 

[Bartel84]

I think the way he plays he has absolutely smashed himself in previous years and his finals have suffered.
Probably the first time he's played a finals series in good condition body wise.
Now hes a Gary Ayres medalist in a Grand Final winning team.

It’s because we relied on him so much it was danger or no one for the last few years. Our back up wasn’t good enough or still improving. Selwood was up and down form wise and Guthrie wasn’t as Voss like as the men above.

This year they caught up so he let out the beast mode for the finals.

 

[geelong_crazy26]

Yep he is too often a bigmouth which annoys, but today he was BOG. Smith was great but Danger was better

danger was doing the grunt work in the engine room, smith just downed the champagne glass up in first class.

BOG for mine was danger for this fact

 

[Whiskers]

Look Danger was bloody awesome but Smith did everything asked of him also. The clear instructions were to get it and kick it long.
Smith did it time and time again whilst hitting targets. 11 inside 50s and 14 score involvements.
At least danger won the Tuck medal.

 

[crocsta]

I thought Danger was best of ground in GF. His contested possessions next level. Smith was great but Danger was unbelievable against quality opposition midfielders


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[fpm84]

The management of Danger during the season to have him peak in finals was a masterstroke and something all clubs should look to emulate with superstar older players.

 

[Bartel84]

Danger should have got the norm.. played one of the best GF performances it was Voss like. So many goal assists infact could have been a record

 

[Mr Meow]

Moving this here as it's more specific to this thread's topic, regarding topic "Dangerfield became more of a team player and brought his team mates into it more/lifted them this season".

Has Danger shifted from a selfish to unselfish player this season? I don't think so.

How do we quantify bringing team mates into a game? Releasing them with a handball rather than bombing away, perhaps? His kick to handball ratio in 2022 was very similar to 2021 and actually higher than 2016 through 2019 (2020 was one year where he kicked a hell of a lot more rather than handball).

Contested to uncontested possession ratio has stayed about the same, thus so has his inside and outside ball. Same as the amount of times he's kicking the ball inside 50.

Clangers per possession have actually gone up the last two seasons, so no indication he is taking less risky options to increase his efficiency (e.g little chip kick or handball to "release a team mate".

2019 onwards there's been a gradual decline in shots on goal, which may be another thing to look for as far as choosing to look for team mates rather than going for glory. So that's one trend I'd say for a 4 year period supports a gradual shift in his approach. But not just as simple as this season being a dramatic shift. "On my back" Dangerfield was primarily 2016-2018, the "Dangerwood" years where assistance around them was poor.

Goal assists have stayed remarkably consistent across his Geelong career, but goal assists per possession have lifted the last 3 seasons. So your point there can have merit, for a 3 year period starting 2020. But it's chicken or the egg, having a better midfield around him and guys protecting him from pressure will boost those numbers. A team where Danger is part of the hunters, rather than the hunted. See how much Sydney hacked the ball on Saturday being the hunted. Danger was in that role for finals for many years.

I guess this is probably one of those gut feel "trust me bro" situations rather than quantifiable. My trust me bro, backed up by players and coaches comments, have been that using the older blokes for small bursts and managing their game time has allowed them to be at their best in particular come finals. Also that the changes to the midfield unit undoubtedly have helped Dangerfield and Selwood do their thing, without being overburdened and in fact having a hell of a support (with different attributes complimenting their own) system for once. Blicavs and Atkins in particular kept the ball alive until a Dangerfield can break away with it, or shut down the opposition quickly if it evades our main clearance beasts.

It sure looks like the team lifted, rather than Dangerfield restructured his game style or focus.