A different looking Danger: Cats skipper flags changes on return from another hamstring strain

Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield has flagged changes he will make to his ground ball technique upon his return from a hamstring injury, which he hopes will be this Sunday against Sydney.

Dangerfield, who turned 34 last month, suffered a reoccurrence of a left hamstring injury in Round 7 and hasn’t played since. He previously strained the same hamstring in Round 2.

He’s been back in full training for two weeks and suggested his desire was to return on Sunday to face the Swans.

However, with the Cats’ bye the following week, Dangerfield may be told to sit on the sidelines one more time.

“I sure as hell hope so,” he told SEN’s Whateley when asked if he’ll play in Round 13.

“There are two schools of thought. One, I’ve been training for a couple of weeks now and I’m ready to go, which I feel I am.

“But the other is you bank one more game and it actually means two more weeks of training which means probably five (lots of) 10-12 kilometre sessions.

“To be blatantly obvious, that’s going to be debated this afternoon. Main training is on Friday this week... I’m pushing for that (decision) to be a bit earlier so I find out what my week looks like and if I’ve got to run 12 kilometres in the captain’s run.”

A meeting with coach Chris Scott later on Tuesday will decide his fate.

“I dare say like most things with this sort of stuff, Chris will win,” Dangerfield added with a laugh.  

Now 325 games into his career and out of contract this year, Dangerfield is in the twilight of his career. He’s battled soft tissue injuries since 2020 and last year missed four games with another left hamstring strain.

The explosive midfielder has spent recent weeks changing how he trains in order to avoid a similar injury.

“That’s been literally what the four or five weeks have been,” Dangerfield said on pondering whether he needs to modify his game.

“The last two hamstring injuries I’ve had have been exactly the same mechanism, bending down at full stretch without really bending your knee.

“I’ve been playing footy at the top level for 17 years, so trying to recreate this on the fly is obviously difficult but more often than not, if you can get into the position where you are lower to the ground, that’s been a huge amount of work that I’ve been putting in with our staff.

“So the answer is absolutely.”

He went on to describe it as a “very big adjustment”.

Dangerfield’s biggest strength throughout his career has been burst from stoppage through incredible power in his legs.

But fans may be seeing a slightly different Dangerfield in the latter stages of his illustrious career.

“What it means practically is you probably get to the ball slightly slower, not because you haven’t run as fast or been as explosive, but you’ve got in a position where you bend your knees more, taking slightly longer to bend over rather than taking it at full speed and full stretch without getting super low… and that’s always been my strength,” he said on his ground ball adjustment.

The Cats won their first game without Dangerfield on Saturday night against Richmond, with the captain’s side still third on the ladder with a record of 8-4.