Patrick Dangerfield
ND Pick # 10 - Geelong Falcons
Vic Crow nominated to be safteyoval's watcher
2007 Pre season and Draft Camp results
Pre Season: 187.5cm, 80.4kg, 2.93 20m sprint, 14.1 beep test, 78cm vertical leap
Screening: 186.9cm, 82.8kg, 2.92 20m sprint, 8.67 agility run, 13.1 beep test, 73cm vertical leap, 23.96 repeat 30m sprints
At Draft Camp Dangerfield came 2nd in repeat 30m sprints, 3rd in vertical leap, equal 7th in 20m sprint
ND Pick # 10 - Geelong Falcons
Vic Crow nominated to be safteyoval's watcher
2007 Pre season and Draft Camp results
Pre Season: 187.5cm, 80.4kg, 2.93 20m sprint, 14.1 beep test, 78cm vertical leap
Screening: 186.9cm, 82.8kg, 2.92 20m sprint, 8.67 agility run, 13.1 beep test, 73cm vertical leap, 23.96 repeat 30m sprints
At Draft Camp Dangerfield came 2nd in repeat 30m sprints, 3rd in vertical leap, equal 7th in 20m sprint
Patrick Dangerfield
186.9cm, 83kg
Recruited: Pick 10, 2007 AFL Draft from Geelong Falcons
Dangerfield was drafted by the Crows this year in the first round as a bottom aged player. This was a somewhat controversial selection as South Australian favourite Brad Ebert had unexpectedly slid to Pick 10, but so highly did the Crows rate Dangerfield (reportedly third in this draft pool) that there was no hesitation in reading out his name on draft day.
He will do the pre-season with the Crows, but will return back to Victoria in 2008 to complete his VCE studies at Oberon High School. There has been mixed opinion on this decision that he let every club know about when speaking to him pre-draft and the Crows considered this to be a sensible decision and indicated that he had a good, level head on his shoulders.
The biggest strength in Dangerfield's game is his elite pace. He was impressive at the Draft Camp coming equal 7th in the 20m sprint (2.92) and 2nd in the repeat 30m sprints (23.96). The 20m sprint result speaks for itself, but the repeat sprint result is a fantastic sign that he has good aerobic capacity to match his pace. On top of this he tested well in the vertical leap, coming 3rd overall (73cm), but more on that later.
In a game situation Dangerfield is not afraid to use his pace. He is well aware of this distinct advantage that he has and will put his foot down to run out of trouble. This has it's advantages and disadvantages. His sheer pace, combined with the fact that he has excellent core stability means that he's difficult to catch, and once he is caught he's hard to keep a hold of. He's very good at standing up in a tackle and breaking through traffic.
He has plenty of confidence with the ball and this is where the disadvantage can come in. People have described him as Mattner like, and yes, there is a chance we will see that over ambitious side with Dangerfield. It hasn't been particularly noticeable with Paddy, but I did see it happen twice in one game against Calder Cannons (both in the back line) so that risk is there. However, his confidence can be just as much an asset and he is a very good carrier of the ball. I'll get onto his disposal in a sec, but he can be an 80m player (run 25m, kick 55m) and in modern football those players are becoming more and more valuable to defeat the flood with quick, direct ball movement. With our other draftees this year it appears to be the tact we'll be taking in the future.
A lot has been made of his kicking skills, and yes, this certainly needs to be an area of improvement for Paddy. He would be a much more damaging player if he could hit targets more consistently. I see a lot of the problems with his kicking to do with his ball drop. Most of the time he has a very loose ball drop. By that, I mean that he doesn't particularly guide the ball down onto his foot - he basically drops the ball onto his foot. Often this makes his kicking a little bit too careful, or at least that's how it looks.
His kicking to contests often sits over the top of his targets head. It often reminds of that classic Futurama quote when Farnsworth brings in his What If machine and Fry asks what if life were like a video game. In the Space Invaders scene when they lose Lrrr gets out and says something along the lines of, "Instead of shooting where I was, you should have shot at where I was going to be." I did want to randomly throw that line in because I love it so much, but it accurately describes his kicking to contests.
Oddly, his kicking on his left foot has a much better ball drop where he tends to guide his hand through his kicking leg. For an opposite foot it's passable, and in fact it's somewhat encouraging that he has a pretty neat looking style there. To me it indicates that he can be taught to replicate that on his preferred foot.
Ground level skills aren't too shabby. He is quite good at scooping the ball up with pace and continuing to run hard. Clean ground skills at pace is no easy task, so this is good to see. For some reason he tends to struggle a little bit more when things are a little bit slower or when he's not moving. It would be good to see him get a bit cleaner below the knees at a slower tempo. Whether this means he is good instinctively below the knees at pace, or if it's something he's worked hard on then I'm not fussed because it's rarer to have someone pick up the ball while moving quickly.
His vertical leap allows him to play taller than his actual height of just on 187cm. He has good skills in the air and a decent punch on him. While I don't anticpate it being his main purpose to play as a key defender, he would work well as a rebounding defender and it doesn't hurt to have good aerial skills in that position! Ideally he'll be a part of our midfield rotation in years to come, but he'll likely do an apprenticeship across the half back line. Height and pace make him a tantalising midfield prospect and there's still bits and pieces to fix up, but he does have the makings to be a very exciting and explosive AFL midfielder.
One other small thing that I noticed that I would like to see ironed out of his game is that he tends to have a slight bias towards chest marks. This is a bit petty because I've only really noticed this in uncontested situations, but he seems to move himself to the fall of the ball is right in his lap. I've always come from the school of thought that you should mark the ball out in front of you when you can, so it's not really an issue, but just a little quirk that I picked up from watching him.
I will be keeping a keen eye on the Geelong Falcons this year because that's where Paddy will be playing. It should be pointed out that he had an interrupted year with the Falcons in 07. He missed the first three weeks as he was in South Africa with the AIS, but for reasons I don't know he also missed Rounds 4 and 5. He also picked up a slight injury just past the midway point of the season and missed a couple of games, plus he missed three weeks of TAC Cup while playing for Vic Country in the U/18 Championships. He had a relatively quiet Carnival, playing mainly as a tagger.
Another year in the TAC Cup will do him wonders, as he never quite got settled this year. A year without pressure (knowing that he's already drafted) and more commitment to the Falcons (no AIS and I believe no Nationals as he's AFL listed) should see the best out of him. With that said, it is understood he'll be coming over to Adelaide during school holidays to train with the Crows and play in the SANFL.
I haven't proof read this, but it's late, so I won't be doing that. Tomorrow: Andy Otten and hopefully Myke Cook, but let's face it, I have intended to do this profile every day since November 24.
