IF THE Crows should happen to choose another exotic, international destination to travel to this pre-season there’s no doubt prized recruit Patrick Dangerfield has racked up enough frequent flyer points to pay his own way.
Dangerfield, who made the trip to Dubai with Adelaide in February, has endured a whirlwind seven months since being selected by the Crows with pick 10 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.
The impressive 18-year-old, who opted to stay in Victoria this year to finish his schooling, has divided his on-field time between the Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup competition and his SANFL club West Adelaide.
Further complicating Dangerfield’s active schedule has been Adelaide’s need to call upon the exciting midfielder as an emergency on several occasions this season.
Two weeks ago, Dangerfield joined his teammates in making the trip to Brisbane before catching a 6am flight back to Adelaide on Sunday in order to get back in time to play for West Adelaide.
“My year has been different, that’s for sure,” Dangerfield said with a laugh.
“Going from playing for the Falcons one week, to being an emergency for the Crows and being told you’re flying to Brisbane or coming back to Adelaide and then going to Tasmania; it’s been different, but fantastic.”
The cut-off date for Dangerfield to commit to playing in the SANFL has now expired, and he will now spend the rest of the season playing U18s for Geelong, unless he is called-up to make his AFL debut.
The Crows will continue to keep a close eye on the talented teenager, who makes the two-hour return trip, along the Great Ocean Road, from his home in Moggs Creek to Geelong for training three times a week.
“I speak to [Crows physical performance manager] Stephen Schwerdt every week and I also speak to [development manager] Alan Stewart, on a Thursday night, so we can go over my game and look at the things I need to improve on,” Dangerfield said.
“I’m doing fewer weights sessions now because I was putting on too much weight, so I’m only doing one a week. I also have a separate running program, which I do during the week, when I can, between school, football training and study.
“But school comes first, so everything else takes a back seat to that. I’ve been going pretty well and I’m happy with how I’ve gone in the first half of the year.
“I had mid-year exams three weeks ago and hopefully I can finish off the year strongly.”
Dangerfield, who arrived in Adelaide again last Friday, joined his teammates for a bike, weights and stretching session on Monday and will return home on Wednesday to begin the all-important third-term of his VCE (Year 12 studies).
“It’s great just being around the club,” Dangerfield said of his time in Adelaide.
“I haven’t done too much full-on training, but we did a bike session this morning with Charlie Walsh and he was riding me more than I was riding the bike; that’s for sure.”
Friday, June 20th: Arrives in Adelaide to train with the Crows and flies to Brisbane with the team as the travelling emergency.
Saturday, June 21st: The Crows go into the game against the Lions as named and Dangerfield watches his teammates go down, narrowly, at the Gabba.
Sunday, June 22nd: Dangerfield is up at the crack of dawn to catch a flight to Adelaide to play for West Adelaide in the afternoon. Flies home to Victoria and makes the hour-long drive to his parents’ home in Moggs Creek.
Saturday, June 28th: Boards another plane bound for Adelaide in preparation for his last game of the year with West Adelaide.
Sunday, June 29th: Lines up for West Adelaide in the club’s loss to Norwood.
Tuesday, July 1st - Wednesday, July 2nd: Two more full days with the Crows before flying back to Geelong in time for Thursday night’s training with the Geelong Falcons.
