Cats win in the west as Dangerfield eyes return

Geelong veteran Patrick Dangerfield has only missed two games with a hamstring injury, but the Cats are confident he is ready to return.

Geelong coach Chris Scott is confident star veteran Patrick Dangerfield will be fit and ready to fire for Saturday’s crunch clash with Gold Coast at GMBHA Stadium.

Dangerfield has been sidelined since tweaking his hamstring in the Cats’ 76-point win over Port Adelaide a fortnight ago.

The 35-year-old has suffered a series of soft tissue injuries in recent years, but the latest setback was only minor.

Dangerfield missed Sunday’s 43-point win over West Coast in Perth, but he could have played if it was a match Geelong needed to win.

“He trained fully during the week. So you know, if this was our last game of the year, he would have played,” Scott said after the 17.14 (116) to 11.7 (73) win over the Eagles.

“So that gives us confidence he’ll be right (against Gold Coast).”

 

Dangerfield, who made his name as a powerful midfielder, has been playing mostly in attack this year.

When asked what position Dangerfield will play when he returns, Scott replied: “Mainly as a forward. But again, I think you know me well enough to know I don’t explain our plans to the opposition too often.”

Fifth-placed Geelong (8-4) can leapfrog fourth-placed Gold Coast (8-3) with a win on Saturday.

Geelong have won seven of their past nine games to put themselves in an excellent position to attack the second half of the season.

The Cats have a history of resting key players at various points of the season, but Scott wants to do it in a little-by-little way.

“That (managing players) has been our way for 15 years now,” Scott said.

“But … I hesitate to talk about it too much, because it implies that we think we’re going so well that we’re going to start managing our squad.

“It’s more a reference to … if you’re going to be the best team at the end of the year, you’re going to need 28, 30, players playing at a high level throughout the year.

“So we’ve got a couple of injuries, guys that will come back, and that’ll force some decisions, but I don’t think we’ll be overly proactive in taking out our best players.”

Bailey Smith racked up a season-high 38 disposals and Jeremy Cameron kicked four of his five goals in the last quarter in Geelong’s win over West Coast.