It was always going to be a long shot for the Crows to slot into September action ahead of round 21, with them needing to win all of their remaining games and other results to go their way.
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They would also rely on Essendon being stripped of premiership points to allow entry into the top eight from ninth.
But their 17-point loss to the Western Bulldogs on Sunday at Etihad Stadium has sealed their fate for this season and cut Dangerfield deeply, particularly after last year's heroics of a preliminary final finish.
"It won't happen and that's very disappointing but there's still things we can get out of the season," Dangerfield told AFL.com.au on Sunday night.
"We'll fight right to the line and we can use it as a real springboard for the pre-season and a launching pad into next season.
"We'll use it as that and continue to play young players and expose them to the AFL level and continue to look for 22 even contributors to get the job done on the weekend."
The Crows have a home clash against Melbourne and an away trip to face West Coast to round out their season.
Dangerfield was critical of the Crows' final term against the Bulldogs, where they let a 22-point lead from the third quarter slip after being in control of the game.
He said the patchy nature of the way they played largely reflected their season.
"That's probably the most disappointing thing, along with the fact we just didn't have enough contributors in the last quarter," he said.
"It's certainly been an issue for us in terms of the games that we've lost.
"We've played well in patches but just haven't been able to sustain it for a full four quarters."
Dangerfield, who was caught up in a Will Minson tackle that looked like it contained the ominous characteristics of a 'chicken wing', said they had been ready for a physical game.
"We know the Bulldogs play a really contested style of footy so we were prepared for that," he said.
"Clearances were going to be important and winning the contested footy and then spreading out of the contest … I thought for two-and-a-bit quarters we were OK and then to fall away like we did in the last quarter was really disappointing."
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
