{"id":77758,"date":"2025-09-23T12:11:48","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T02:11:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/?p=77758"},"modified":"2026-07-03T10:29:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T00:29:42","slug":"the-captains-who-changed-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/2025\/09\/the-captains-who-changed-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"The Captains Who Changed Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Modern footy is about three central questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In which parts of the ground do you give yourself a defined numbers advantage?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How do you maximise that numbers advantage when and where you have it?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do you have enough players that can make an opposition\u2019s numbers advantage into a weakness?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>That third question, asked more simply, is do you have enough superstars?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have blokes that turn a 50\/50 into a 60\/40?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Geelong and Brisbane on Friday and Saturday night, the answer was a defined yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And those superstars were their captains, both of whom played blinders to guide their teams to the Grand Final.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Three-straight Grand Finals.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AFLFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AFLFinals<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nG3Cs7J4Tj\">pic.twitter.com\/nG3Cs7J4Tj<\/a><\/p>&mdash; 7AFL (@7AFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/7AFL\/status\/1969342468312256913?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 20, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Patrick Dangerfield and Harris Andrews are different players and different characters, but both have the effect of disadvantageous situations for their team into defined positives because they\u2019re so f*cking good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dangerfield, at this point in his career, is a splash player.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He\u2019s Philip Seymour Hoffman showing up in a red convertible in the <em>Talented Mr Ripley <\/em>and owning it for the rest of the five minutes he\u2019s in the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"&quot;Don&#039;t you wanna have every woman you see just once&quot; | The Talented Mr. Ripley | CLIP\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dDP2q1aKrww?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>On Friday night, he turned back the clock, he was a character actor who returned to being a leading man.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more reasons than one, Friday night was his <em>The Master.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Master - Philip Seymour Hoffman&#039;s confrontation scene of The Cause\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Iw54-yDc6Jg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>With 29 minutes gone in the first quarter, Patty Dangerfield kicked Geelong\u2019s only goal of the term to send them into the break down just 13 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After that moment on centre stage, for most of the season he would have just left it until the next time his team needed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Except in this game, they needed him at the heart of the contest for the entire game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a>He obliged them.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dangerfield <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AFLCatsHawks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AFLCatsHawks<\/a><br>3 Goals. 32 Disposals (14 Kicks. 18 Handballs) 5 Marks. 8 Clearances. 2 Goal Assists. 560m Gained. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/e3KO0RTmCj\">pic.twitter.com\/e3KO0RTmCj<\/a><\/p>&mdash; MPT (@matthew_tolj) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/matthew_tolj\/status\/1969018013379686488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>You know Dangerfield is in the mood when he starts to prowl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He always has a strut, but when he\u2019s fully up for the fight, he prowls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His hands flow almost in billy strut for the whole game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Conor McGregor Billionaire Strut\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/f8OQIQLPypI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>His head is on a swivel looking for the next victim, like he\u2019s Alexander looking for more worlds to conquer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That prowl is his version of the Chris Paul stomp or the Kobe jaw jut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s a flashing light that says: \u201cI\u2019m here to bend the game to my will.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To do that, he spent his time where the game can most easily be dictated: the middle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since Round 3, Dangerfield hasn\u2019t attended more than 32% of centre bounces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Friday night, he was at about half of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His eight clearances were his most of the season and his 20 contested possessions were the most he\u2019s had since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By player rating, his 29.4 is the best game he\u2019s played since 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s his only game of the 2020s over 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Marcus Bontempelli, who led the AFL in player rating this season, had two better games for the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the numbers don\u2019t remotely do him justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was ferocious in his attack on the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The whole game was Hawthorn players trying to stop a train from getting from A to B. <a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To quote Chael Sonnen, 1 on 1, 2 on 1 or 5 on 1, Danger made them all need 911.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chael Sonnen - &quot;5 on 1, I will make them all need 911&quot;\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5RXiTMh2rJo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>When he was getting gang tackled he kept his hands free. Every 3 on 1 was a win for Geelong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stepped up for the big occasion \ud83d\udc4a<br><br>One minute of nothing but Patrick Dangerfield being a contested beast, thanks to DiDi. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AFLFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AFLFinals<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZeuZx6sdMQ\">pic.twitter.com\/ZeuZx6sdMQ<\/a><\/p>&mdash; AFL (@AFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AFL\/status\/1969025586279419966?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 19, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hawks almost always had more numbers, but Dangerfield was so imperious that Geelong\u2019s extraordinary outside runners could stay out knowing that Danger would punish Hawthorn\u2019s flock to the ball.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s a superstar, just by being there, his team was in the ascendancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If Dangerfield is a spike player, Harris Andrews is a metronome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When was the last time he played a bad one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Three Lions, three stars, one massive achievement \ud83c\udf1f\ud83c\udf1f\ud83c\udf1f Hugh McCluggage, Harris Andrews and Zac Bailey have all been crowned All-Australians in 2025! \ud83e\udd81\ud83d\ude4c <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aP8Z7OzhAl\">pic.twitter.com\/aP8Z7OzhAl<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Brisbane Lions (@brisbanelions) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/brisbanelions\/status\/1961022376797413796?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 28, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>But on Saturday evening, he played an almost perfect one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fairness, Collingwood could not stop kicking it to him and their plan of playing the totally immobile and unthinking Mason Cox (if I could bear to listen to Sam McClure, I\u2019d be interested to hear his thoughts on the game) was a bold strategy that didn\u2019t pay off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sam McClure\u2019s big on Mason Cox!<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cleary_mitch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cleary_mitch<\/a> was quick to shut him down via the latest Tradies episode! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bvIBr1cUhs\">pic.twitter.com\/bvIBr1cUhs<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Cench (@cenchfooty) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/cenchfooty\/status\/1963114391617908936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 3, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrews got to every Collingwood bomb entry, which is to say every Collingwood entry, and shut it off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as I saw, he didn\u2019t lose a contest playing essentially as a loose because his direct opponent was such a non-factor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever he was in a one on one, he won it taking five intercept marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whenever he got over to help an opponent, he made sure his side didn\u2019t lose it either by forcing a stoppage or just taking the mark himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was perfect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Collingwood scored on about 45% of their entries this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harris Andrews is the major reason that they scored on 32% of them on Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a>This game comes a week after Ben King threatened to rip apart the Gold Coast Brisbane semi-final with two goals in the first quarter.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Ben King kicks the first goal of the first QClash final \ud83d\udc51<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/AFLFinals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AFLFinals<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J2iiDD5W5A\">pic.twitter.com\/J2iiDD5W5A<\/a><\/p>&mdash; AFL (@AFL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AFL\/status\/1966799516826304963?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the second, Chris Fagan swapped Andrews out of his preferred help defence role and onto King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He had three more disposals and no more goals for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was, as he always is, brilliant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Dangerfield, he\u2019s a Mr Fix It.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He has a preferred role, but can do anything in the back half just like Dangerfield can do everything in the front half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Modern footy comes down to those three questions at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Preliminary Final weekend, Geelong and Brisbane both had the best answer to question three.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dangerfield bent the contest to his will. Andrews erased Collingwood\u2019s forward line by himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both men consistently turned situations that should have been 50\/50, or worse, into defined advantages for their team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s the job description of a superstar. And it\u2019s why the two captains will walk out next Saturday night with their sides behind them.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Modern footy is about three central questions: In which parts of the ground do you give yourself a defined numbers advantage? How do you maximise that numbers advantage when and where you have it? Do you have enough players that can make an opposition\u2019s numbers advantage into a weakness? That third question, asked more simply, is do you have enough superstars? Do you have blokes that turn a 50\/50 into a 60\/40? For Geelong and Brisbane on Friday and Saturday night, the answer was a defined yes. And those superstars were their captains, both of whom played blinders to guide&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":77773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8298,598,344],"tags":[29,8260],"hub_post_cat":[],"class_list":["post-77758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australian-rules","category-guywholikessport","category-special-interest","category-sports","tag-afl","tag-guywholikessport"],"acf":{"md_tip_date":"","md_tip_date_end":"","md_market_url":"","tip_date":"23\/09\/2025","event_country":"Australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77758"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77758\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87747,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77758\/revisions\/87747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77758"},{"taxonomy":"hub_post_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.neds.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hub_post_cat?post=77758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}