Dangerfield, 18, was taken by the Crows at pick number 10 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft, but remained in his native Victoria last season to finish year 12.
The highly rated onballer arrived in Adelaide two weeks ago and, on Thursday, he received another accolade when he was handed club legend and Brownlow Medallist Mark Ricciuto’s famous number 32 guernsey.
“It’s exciting to be over here and to receive number 32. To wear is a bit of a bonus, but I’m sure come the start of the season it will suit me a bit better,” Dangerfield said.
“I think everyone looked up to Roo. He was not only one of Adelaide’s best players but also one of the best players ever to play the game. It’s hard not to look up to someone like that.”
Dangerfield, whose old number 19 guernsey will be used as part of the club’s ‘19th man’ marketing campaign in 2009, has already generated comparisons to the former Adelaide great.
His old team manager, Michael Turner from the Geelong Falcons, labelled Dangerfield Ricciuto’s ‘successor’ at West Lakes.
He also declared Dangerfield to be as good as any player to come out of the Geelong TAC Cup team, which has produced star products Jonathan Brown, Luke Hodge, Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett Jr.
“A fair few of the boys think he [Turner] is my surrogate father,” Dangerfield said with a laugh. “It’s good to hear stuff like that, but I’ll let my actions do the talking ...
I've got to prove to everyone that I am as good as I want to be.”
Dangerfield made a surprise AFL debut against Essendon in round 20 last season and held his spot for the following week.
He is confident his two games of experience would hold him in good stead for season 2009.
“My goal at the moment is to get through the pre-season without any injuries and that’s easier said than done. But I’d like to play as many games in the ones as possible.
“I think playing those two games last year makes this year a lot easier in terms of the pre-season because I know where I’m at and how fast the AFL is. I had two different ends of the spectrum playing Essendon and being involved in a really good win and then playing against St Kilda where we were very much beaten.
Dangerfield, who hopes to study either Marine Biology or Teaching, said he had no regrets about his decision to finish his studies at Oberon High in Victoria, but is happy to be settling into his new home.
“It sits a bit better with me now that I know I’m here and I’m here to stay,” he said.
“I’m not going to be to-ing and fro-ing between here and Victoria. It feels more comfortable and it’s very exciting to have moved over here permanently and I can’t wait for the season to start.”
