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On Saturday night Patrick Dangerfield will play against his former side, the Adelaide Crows, for only the second time since his free-agency move last year.
The first meeting came earlier this season in round 8, whereby Geelong overcame the Crows home ground advantage to run out 26 point winners.
After the loss, Adelaide sat in eight position on the ladder with a 4-4 record and predicted by many to be around that spot come season’s end, “The Crows are as honest as any team in it but are an A-grade midfielder short and restricted up front while Taylor Walker remains short of his best. Around the eight is their mark,” said Jon Anderson from the Herald Sun.
Meanwhile, the Cats were Premiership favourites ahead of an undefeated North Melbourne.
Yet with nine rounds gone since then, Geelong have shown a considerable a form slump with a number of lackluster performances, most surprisingly three out of four of their losses coming against sides outside the eight namely Collingwood, Carlton, and St Kilda.
On the opposite side of the ledger, Adelaide has won eight straight games to fly up to second on the ladder, one game behind leaders Hawthorn and now firming as one of the favourites to win the premiership.
As it has been all season, the top eight is tightly contested with only eight points separating first and seventh and four points between the Cats and Crows, shaping this game as season defining with a top four place on the line.
The match will be played at a high intensity and both clubs will look to step up their game against quality opposition. Last time the two sides, met Cam Guthrie gathered a career-high 36 disposals but may have to play a role against an in-form Rory Sloane. Yet most of the football world is hopeful that respective coaches will allow former teammates and good mates Dangerfield and Sloane to go head to head in a battle of the ages.
They’ll not only be battling for a very important win but for additional bragging rights and although they may deny it, contesting pivotal votes for the Brownlow.
The Crows welcome back young duo Rory Laird and Luke Brown to the backs. The Cats welcome back club superstar Jimmy Bartel to play his 299th game, in the hope to play his 300th in front of a home crowd the following Friday against the Bulldogs.
Lachie Henderson is a big out for the Cats following a nasty collision that saw him stretchered off the field against Fremantle. Henderson has been an important inclusion into the Geelong squad in 2016 as a key defender and a strong intercept marker. His loss means Harry Taylor and Tom Lonergan will have to do the grunt of the work against Crows in-form big forwards Tex Walker and Josh Jenkins.
Corey Enright will bring up a milestone game equalling the club games played record held by Ian Nankervis (325), whilst the game is additionally important for Tom Hawkins and Motlop, two star Cats who have been in poor form in past weeks. The game will allow the pair to showcase their ability to perform under the pressure of critics in a big game.
Even without the Dangerfield story, there are numerous reasons why this game is crucial to both sides seasons and a number of different reasons to watch this game, in what looks to be the game of the round.
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