Once Upon a Time In Geelong

Once Upon a Time In Geelong

GuyWhoLikesSport

When Quentin Tarantino pitched Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to Brad Pitt, I wonder if he told him he wouldn’t be the main character.

He must have—just not in those words.

Tarantino likely said, “Brad, you’ll be on the poster, but you won’t be the lead. You’ll make the biggest impact, though.”

Pitt, a character actor in a leading man’s body, thrived in that role.

I bet Chris Scott had a similar chat with Patty Dangerfield heading into 2024—and he’s doing it again in 2025.

Heading into 2025, Dangerfield will almost certainly have a different role to the dominant midfield presence that we have come to expect.

We saw it in his 16 games in 2024. Dangerfield had his fewest contested possessions and disposals since 2011, as well as the fewest ground ball gets of his career.

However, he didn’t want for impact.

Aged 34, Dangerfield had the second most inside 50s of his career, the fourth most metres gained at the highest metres per disposal clip while leading Geelong in centre bounces per game.

Scott turned Dangerfield into a forward half distance and burst player.

He’s still explosive over 30m and can still set an extraordinary physical tone when he’s fit, so Scott used him solely for those purposes.

Bill Simmons has a 90/10 theory of superstardom. The theory is that superstar athletes have 90% good and 10% bad. Greatness becomes a question of how much the 10% matters.

For Dangerfield, the 10% is ball use. Often contested beasts like Dangerfield have poor efficiency numbers because they’re always in traffic. That’s true of Dangerfield, except unlike Caleb Serong, even when Dangerfield has space his stabby kicking action leads to poor results.

Scott has neutralised the 10% by telling Dangerfield to run far, hurt people, and kick long.

Dangerfield’s enduring explosiveness and ranginess fit perfectly into the new Geelong of 2024 that led footy in metres gained and metres per disposal, so he remained extremely useful.

Given how powerful Dangerfield looked in 2024, there’s no reason to think that he can’t be about that powerful again in 2025 playing a footy version of Cliff Booth killing the Manson family.

The question is, how do you replace one of the best midfielders ever if he can’t be a full-time midfielder anymore, and figures to play less midfield time this season?

For Geelong, it’s easy.

They have a production line that Henry Ford would be jealous of.

Last year on Geelong’s conveyor belt to superstardom was Max Holmes.

Every year of his career, Holmes has increased his possession and contested ball numbers as he has transitioned from a dashing half-back wing to more of a midfielder while retaining his running power.

He’s also lifted his centre bounce attendance numbers from 3.1 per game in his first year to 9.6 last year, a career high. He simultaneously set a career highs in clearances, contested ball, loose ball gets, metres gained, and handball receives.

He became an inside/out player, different stylistically but the same substantially as Dangerfield as the splash mid.

Last year was his star turn, like Margaret Qualley in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

This year I’m picking a superstar turn, like Margaret Qualley in The Substance.

My bet is that they throw the next set of guys on there this year and see who comes off it looking rosy. Maybe we see more on the ball time for Ollie Dempsey, Gryan Miers or Lawson Humphries as Mitch Duncan and Cam Guthrie become less relevant.

Maybe even their Bailey Smith plays on the ball to give them some running power?

I’d be a bit surprised if they took him away from the wing where his running will be so valuable for a team that wants to play as long and as fast as Geelong do, but anything can happen with Scott.

It doesn’t matter.

That’s the point with Chris Scott.

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