GEELONG superstar Patrick Dangerfield is delivering exactly as coach Chris Scott hoped he would as captain after igniting the Cats from the midfield in Sunday's win against West Coast.
Dangerfield, who replaced retired champion Joel Selwood as captain this season, was the Cats' best player in a 47-point win on Sunday, finishing with 23 disposals, six clearances and six inside 50s at Adelaide Oval.
CATS v EAGLES Full match coverage and stats
It was the manner of his midfield possessions, however, particularly in the first half, that impressed Scott, with the Brownlow medallist bursting forward often to also finish with a game-high four score assists.
"It's a rare, almost uncoachable ability that one, to take groundballs at such speed and be able to break away. That's him at his damaging best," Scott said.
"When you think of him intuitively playing his best footy, that's the sort of thing you think about.
"He's doing exactly what we had hoped he would do as captain."
While Dangerfield turned the game from the midfield in the first half with 10 contested possessions and four clearances, key forward Jeremy Cameron booted four goals to take the game out of West Coast's reach.
Champion goalkicker Tom Hawkins also finished with four, with Scott pleased with the veteran's progression after off-season foot surgery.
TOUGH BREAK Cats' AA forward cops suspected broken wrist
"We didn't expect him to be at his best in the first month, but we're confident that the plan we put in place is looking like it's on track," the coach said.
"That might have been hard to see in the first three weeks, but the signs we were seeing with the way he pulled up and the way his game was improving was a good sign for us."
After building a 77-point lead early in the third quarter and fading somewhat in the second half, which West Coast won by 17 points, Scott said he was not overly critical of his team's form after the main break.
REPORT Classy Cats in cruise control to overcome depleted Eagles
"When you have a good win like that it's the wrong way to look at it, picking the eyes out of the parts you're not happy with," he said.
"Even when you have good wins, you look back and think we need to adjust this or we didn't quite do certain bits right.
"They were able to get a bit of momentum at certain times. I tend to think it's more a product of even the teams that are not forecast to be towards the top of the ladder, they're going to have their moments.
"Everyone is pretty good. That's my observation."
NINE THINGS WE LEARNED Dynamic Draper has solved a Dons' dilemma
West Coast coach Adam Simpson was frustrated by the gap between his team's best and worst football, having conceded nine of the 10 goals kicked in the second quarter before enjoying good periods after half-time.
"There's a resilience piece with our players that you can clearly see, but that doesn't excuse the position we put ourselves in," the coach said.
"They went to a level we couldn't keep up with. I think that's a fair assessment, and we need to find ways to get back in the game and break even and not just concede and concede.
"The last two weeks have been a real challenge with the two teams we've played. But of the eight quarters of footy, there were three or four where we walk away thinking there's some things there we can use going forward, and three or four quarters that weren't good enough."
Premiership midfielder Elliot Yeo was thrown into the midfield for periods after starting in defence but finished the match sore and will need to be assessed.
Young midfielder Reuben Ginbey copped a poke in the eye but was able to return to the field before being substituted out of the game to manage his workload after a strong start to his debut season.
Simpson confirmed fellow draftee Elijah Hewett would require scans to assess an ankle injury, which was suffered in the WAFL on Saturday, with captain Luke Shuey a chance to return from injury against Port Adelaide next Saturday.
