Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon says Patrick Dangerfield’s 2019 could be a crucial campaign for his legacy.
Geelong has made the finals in eight of the past nine seasons, but have tasted flag success just once in that period, and Lyon has wondered if Dangerfield can follow the lead of other star midfielders across the AFL, and change his game to help the Cats’ finals record.
“You talk about legacies and you talk about players when they’re finished and gone, what are we going to say?” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“Right now, if Danger wins another best and fairest, or even a Brownlow, whatever, but Geelong don’t win a flag, we will say, one of the best players to have played the game but could he have done more to drag others around him?
“I’m not saying he is detrimental to team success, I would never say that.
“For him right now, this juncture in time, can he sit there and look at the playing field of 2019 and say, I am comfortable with being less if the collective are more?
“I look at (Trent) Cotchin as an example as someone who was prepared to change the way he played and change the role.
“I look at (Scott) Pendlebury last year. Changed the role and was prepared to change.”
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Lyon added the Dangerfield conundrum is a microcosm for Geelong’s entire team heading into 2019.
“I think they do (need to change),” Lyon said.
“Their season last year was forever about those guys being in their best players.
“The challenge I see for them, and for Danger and for Joel (Selwood), is can they make those players around them better? Can they make them better players? Is Selwood, or is Dangerfield, prepared to change?”
The Cats begin their new campaign on Friday March 22 against Collingwood.