Is time running out for Patrick Dangerfield to win an elusive premiership?
Geelong’s season was ended on Friday night after they were manhandled by Melbourne in the Preliminary Final at Optus Stadium by 83 points.
That performance and the current state of the Cats’ ageing list calls into question their genuine flag credentials having missed out in 2020 and falling one game short of the Grand Final this year.
With the ultimate success evading the club since 2011 - Chris Scott’s first year as coach - it begs the question: Was this the last hurrah for the Cats and Dangerfield?
The 31-year-old former Adelaide star is a Brownlow Medallist and four-time best and fairest (three with Geelong), but has fallen short from a team success perspective and perhaps his chance may have passed him by, suggests Tim Watson.
The Cats will enter 2022 with 13 players over the age of 30 and with a game plan that simply hasn’t stacked up in finals in recent years.
Watson asked on SEN Breakfast: “You don’t always get what you want or deserve in this game, do you?
“Even ‘Danger’, he goes to Geelong because he wants to go back closer to his family to live in Victoria, but it was also about the potential of playing in a Grand Final.
“Maybe that’s gone now. Maybe that’s past him. Maybe this was the last hurrah for Patrick Dangerfield and Geelong with that group of players.
“You look at the age demographic, where they’re at as a group of players right now, it may be that it’s never going to work out the way Danger wanted it to.
“You don’t necessarily get what you want in this game.”
Watson also touched on the distinct Geelong game style under Scott, which involves controlled ball use and a constant need to be in possession.
“It’s an interesting time for them because not only is it their playing list, it’s the way they play,” he added.
“They’ve built a game style around their playing list and they’ve recruited for that type of football.
“Now you look at it and the damage that was done to them in two finals because of the way they played, that very deliberate way, securing the ball, does it really stack up in the pressure of finals footy?”
Geelong finished the home and away season in third position before losing comfortably to Port Adelaide and Melbourne either side of a victory over GWS in the finals.
The Cats will now lick their wounds before setting their sights on the 2021 AFL Draft, where at this point they will not be active until late in the second round with their first pick coming at 30.
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