Sydney coach John Longmire has paid rising Adelaide star Patrick Dangerfield a huge compliment by comparing him to Swans’ superstar Adam Goodes.
Longmire is tipping a good old-fashioned arm wrestle between the top two contested-ball winning teams in the AFL when they clash at the SCG on Saturday.
Dangerfield racked up 39 touches against Port Adelaide in a best afield performance in the Showdown last weekend and is averaging 26 possessions a game in 2012.
“The challenge with Patty Dangerfield is that often when you are actually trying not to let him run free, he runs free anyway, because he’s so quick,” Longmire told reporters.
“Its a bit like Goodesy – you can try and have someone on him, but he’s got such a burst of speed, and he’s so powerful that he’s able to generate a five-metre gap on whoever he’s on really quickly.
“Goodesy is a bit similar to that, so we’re going to be trying to make sure that we play an accountable brand of footy all over the ground and make sure we are really strong at two-way running, which has been our strength.”
The SCG will be no place for the faint of heart, with Sydney and Adelaide running first and second respectively in the league in contested possessions.
“Essentially it will be a big battle in the midfield,” Longmire said.
Longmire didn’t read much into the fact Adelaide had won their last three games at the SCG and hadn’t lost there since 2004.
“The teams are so different now, there’s different coaches on both teams, certainly different players on both teams,” Longmire said.
“I think all it does probably from Adelaide’s point of view is give them some confidence coming to the SCG and knowing that they’ve played well here before.”
With West Coast and Sydney leading the way, some footy romantics are already dreaming about the clubs reprising their 2005-06 grand final epics.
“That’s a little bit far to dream of, I’ve got bigger things to worry about at the moment,” said veteran Swan Ryan O’Keefe.
“I’ve got a new baby at home. That’s what I’m dreaming about, trying to get some sleep.”
O’Keefe has an unblemished goalkicking record this season, booting 6.0, a notable improvement in accuracy on his form for much of last year.
“I changed a few things and have been working at it really hard and that’s all, it is, no special formula,” O’Keefe said.
