GEELONG Cats star Patrick Dangerfield is looking forward to picking the squad for the team he will captain in this year\u2019s AFLX season.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a training session for the Cats at Deakin University\u2019s Waurn Ponds campus last week, Dangerfield said AFLX was a great concept, and the revamp \u2013 which will feature teams made of players from any AFL side \u2013 would make the short form of the sport better in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo mix it up this year and to have different players playing with each other from different clubs is going to make it really well received, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dangerfield will captain the Bolts, who will play against Jack Riewoldt\u2019s Rampage, Nat Fyfe\u2019s Flyers and Eddie Betts\u2019 Deadly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe great thing about it is that there\u2019s all these players throughout the league that you\u2019d love to play with but don\u2019t have the opportunity to, and this provides that platform to do it.\u201d Dangerfield said.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have four different teams with players from all around the country playing with and against each other, it\u2019s really exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said AFLX would probably not be a precursor for the return of a State of Origin competition, as AFL teams already had many players from states other than their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou almost lose that feeling of not necessarily state pride, but you just play with so many different people from different states. It\u2019s not like when you play in South Australia, there\u2019s just South Australians there; half the Crows are from Victoria.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dangerfield dismissed criticism of the AFLX competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were the same sceptics last year that complained the best players weren\u2019t playing and they\u2019re the same ones that are now saying it\u2019s a terrible format,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ll always complain about something; you just don\u2019t buy into it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever you initially try something new, there\u2019s going to be scepticism around it, there\u2019s always going to be a few things you need to tinker with but I think the concept itself is really promising \u2013 it\u2019s faster, it\u2019s that shorter format, I think it engages kids probably a little bit better than with AFL games because they go so long.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GEELONG Cats star Patrick Dangerfield is looking forward to picking the squad for the team he will captain in this year\u2019s AFLX season. Speaking at a training session for the Cats at Deakin University\u2019s Waurn Ponds campus last week, Dangerfield said AFLX was a great concept, and the revamp \u2013 which will feature teams made […]<\/p>\n