Just when the Dangerfield Express had seemingly reached terminal velocity, a hamstring-induced derailment has put the Cats skipper’s health back on to season 2023 news lists.
Patrick Dangerfield, 33, heavily praised in recent weeks as having fully regained the damaging speed and power of his early career, suffered a left hamstring injury late in the second quarter of the Cats’ 26-point win over Adelaide at GMHBA Stadium.
Dangerfield, replaced by sub Oliver Dempsey to start the third quarter, had again been the most influential player in the opening half as the Cats booted six second-term goals to establish the match-winning break they didn’t relinquish.
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Speaking to Fox Footy post-game, Dangerfield said his hamstring was “not too bad” but wanted to take a “conservative approach”.
“I was genuinely jogging and all of a sudden I felt a bit of hamstring awareness,” Dangerfield told Fox Footy. “It was like ‘I reckon I’ve done it’, but hopefully on the minor scale.
“Having done one before on the belly, this doesn’t feel like that. But it wasn’t worth the risk a minute into the second half.
“Thankfully the guys finished off a really solid game against a team that’s playing really great footy.
“We’ll scan it (on Sunday) and then reassess where it’s at. It feels minor, but you can never really tell with these sorts of things.”
Asked if he was confident the issue was just tightness, Dangerfield joked he wasn’t a doctor and that there was “no smoke and shadows behind the windows” as a cheeky reference to ex-Magpie Travis Cloke’s famous faux pas.
The 2016 Brownlow Medal winner had been widely regarded as being on track to earn what would be a record nine All Australian blazers and was again top of the Cats’ stats list with 16 gilt-edged disposals by half time, including nine in a dominant second term.
Geelong Press Conference | 11:42
Geelong coach Chris Scott post-match said it appeared Dangerfield’s injury was “not serious”.
“It seems confusing in some ways because (being) subbed off with a hamstring, it’s not great news,” he said. “So hopefully the damage can be mitigated there and he doesn’t miss too much (footy).
“But I would be clear if it was a really serious one, because it was our fear because he was subbed off pretty quickly, but that wasn’t an indication of the severity, more an indication that there was something there and something we shouldn’t take a risk with.”
On the incident, Scott added: “It’s a little strange. He’d been so damaging early in the game as well, if he was bursting out of the pack max acceleration, you’d understand it, but this a bit confusing to him and generally when it’s confusing it’s a good sign.”
Dangerfield has a history of soft-tissue injuries in his legs, including in 2022 when the Cats successfully managed his workload after an early calf injury, but he missed more than a month mid-season and wasn’t “let loose” until the finals.
The Crows also suffered an injury blow when backman Nick Murray was subbed at halftime with a suspected concussion.
— NCA NewsWire
