Geelong star and former Crow Patrick Dangerfield says Adelaide are the best team in the AFL.

He says they have been all season.

And they run a lot deeper than star midfielder Rory Sloane, who had starred in their last meeting – a 21-point round-18 win by the Crows.

What’s more, the 50,000-strong crowd will take some quietening.

But Dangerfield still thinks Geelong can win Friday night’s preliminary final and, with it, a place in the grand final at the minor premiers’ expense.

“Our best is good enough,” Dangerfield declared on Thursday afternoon at Melbourne airport as he prepared to fly to South Australia.

Having never played in a grand final, the Brownlow Medallist says the battle of the season’s top-two finishers is the biggest game of his career.

Dismissing pre-game jibes from Josh Jenkins and other ex-teammates as “tongue in cheek”, Dangerfield made clear his respect for Adelaide.

“They’ve been the best side all year and play a really strong brand of footy,” he said.

“Adelaide are far more than just Rory Sloane. We understand that he’s a gun of the comp.

“So’s Matt Crouch who was All Australian this year. And there’s many others.

“Tommy Lynch has had a really good season. They’ve got so many attacking weapons off half-back.

“(Against Adelaide in round 18) the scoreboard flattered us.

“But I think we’ve been really competitive against the best sides and we showed that on the weekend.”

Geelong’s last-out defeat of Sydney erased any lingering doubts over whether the Cats belonged in the the top four.

Dangerfield was deployed in the forward line in their semi-final, unsettling the favoured Swans.

He wasn’t giving anything away as to his positioning against the Crows, saying he would take advice from coach Chris Scott.

“I don’t think it’s going to be back pocket,” he said.

“It’ll be midfield and forward depending on the flow of the game.”

The 27-year-old has already returned to Adelaide Oval twice in Geelong colours, which he suggests will prepare him for the inevitable onslaught from the 50,000-strong crowd.

As many have suggested previously in finals, Dangerfield says the start will be key.

” You can’t look too far ahead. It’s simple. It’s the first five minutes,” he said.

“We need to make sure we bring the intensity that finals warrant.

“We go in with real confidence because I think we’re a pretty good side.

“Nothing I can say really matters all that much … it all comes down to actions tomorrow night.”