Dangerfield the Crow and (right) Dangerfield the Cat (trailed by former teammate Rory Sloane) starring against his old club.
1. Who am I? A high-end draft pick from West Perth, I played 139 AFL games before a knee injury forced me into early retirement.
The three-quarter length sleeves I regularly wore helped me develop a cult following during my playing career.
I thrust them high above a pack to take one of the most iconic marks in my club’s history and went back to kick a match-winning goal after the siren, sparking wild celebrations as I jumped into the crowd.
Still haven’t got it? My older brother also played at the top level, with multiple clubs.
And I’m someone you’ll be hearing a lot more about as my name gets thrust forward as a potential candidate for senior coaching positions when the merry-go-round picks up pace in the coming weeks.
I am, of course, Justin Longmuir.
The former Fremantle ruck-forward has built an impressive coaching resume since retiring in 2007.
He spent almost a decade in development and assistant coaching roles with the Dockers and West Coast before jumping at the chance to join Collingwood ahead of the 2018 season.
Longmuir was credited as the brains behind the club’s defensive strategy last year and won huge praise from his players and fellow coaches as Magpies charged into last year’s grand final.
Fellow Collingwood assistant and former Adelaide coach Brenton Sanderson piled on more Longmuir love when speaking to radio station SEN over the weekend. “He’s ready to go,” Sanderson said of his 38-year-old colleague. “Whichever club chooses to interview him will be highly impressed.”
Assuming Longmuir is interested in pursuing a senior coaching role this year, he faces stiff competition.
A long line of experienced assistants and ex-senior coaches is forming, and at least one decorated current senior coach – Sydney’s John Longmire – is seen as “gettable”. Alastair Clarkson this week reaffirmed his commitment to Hawthorn, but the goal posts have been known to shift.
As it stands, only two jobs are available, at Carlton and North Melbourne.
Longmuir has completed the Level Four coaching course that helped land Stuart Dew, Simon Goodwin and Brendon Bolton their senior roles, and appears as well-credentialed as any of the untried assistants to land a top job.
2. Speaking of coaches … we’re not in the business of calling for their heads, however, there is a very real sense that one more embarrassing defeat could bring about the end of Alan Richardson’s tenure at St Kilda.
Saints’ footy boss Simon Lethlean did little to hose down speculation with his public comments over the weekend after a thumping from Brisbane left the club’s season on the brink of collapse.
St Kilda takes on Richmond at Marvel Stadium in the popular “Maddie’s Match” – a fixture that has been used as a fundraising platform to find new treatments for bone marrow failure over the past few years.
This time, it could also take on greater significance in a football sense.
The Tigers are set to welcome back up to five players to their best 22 in a much-needed boost to their ranks after slipping out of the top eight.
Premiership heroes Trent Cotchin, Shane Edwards, David Astbury and Kane Lambert should be named as inclusions, alongside Ivan Soldo, on return from injury.
It could spell trouble for St Kilda.
Essendon, too, remains under the pump ahead of Thursday night’s meeting with flag fancy Greater Western Sydney. The heat is on John Worsfold after a shellacking at the hands of his old club in the west last week.
But maybe, just maybe, the wider football public and media need to take a deep breath.
There are nine rounds to play, and both St Kilda and Essendon sit just one win behind seventh-placed Port Adelaide. Fremantle is clinging to eighth spot and is in a precarious position as injuries to key players mount.
It is not completely beyond the realms of possibility that either the Saints or Bombers make a charge towards the top eight.
Worsfold’s men went 7-3 after the bye last season. The same result on top of their six wins this year would likely see them scrape into the finals.
Stranger things have happened.
3. There is a sense of serendipity about one of the game’s most high-profile figures returning to AFL ranks on the same ground he suffered a second serious knee injury almost 12 months ago.
And when Nic Naitanui strides on to the MCG against Hawthorn on Saturday, he might take a second to reflect on that heartbreaking moment in front of the benches on the Members’ wing.
After contesting a boundary throw-in, Naitanui hobbled straight off the ground down the players’ race. To the naked eye, the incident was as innocuous as they come.
But the star ruckman wouldn’t play another game in 2018 and was one of three key players to miss out on the Eagles’ premiership, along with Brad Sheppard (hamstring) and Andrew Gaff (suspension).
Naitanui has been building steadily in recent weeks and shone in his playing return in the WAFL last week, outpointing former Dockers duo Jon Griffin and Luke Strnadica in his first appearance for West Coast’s new reserves side.
Now he shapes as a possible “x-factor” in the Eagles’ premiership defence.
The space afforded by this year’s new 6-6-6 rule at centre bounces should suit a player who can fly for a ruck knock and follow-up at ground level better than any other. And West Coast midfielders Luke Shuey, Elliott Yeo, Jack Redden and co. will relish the silver service the “Flying Fijian” can provide.
The only men in blue-and-gold who might not be quite so happy about Naitanui’s return are Nathan Vardy and Tom Hickey. There is only room for two ruckmen in Adam Simpson’s game plan, and one of Vardy or Hickey will be squeezed out.
4. Ask any player coming up against his old side how he feels about the match-up and he will tell you he’s “looking forward to the contest”, or something along those lines.
Jesse Hogan was a case in point last week, though the Fremantle recruit’s first clash with Melbourne ended on a sour note when he limped off mid-game with a foot injury.
But few players relish the prospect of taking on their former club like Patrick Dangerfield when he confronts Adelaide.
The Moggs Creek boy broke Crows fans’ hearts when he headed home at the end of 2015, and has been rubbing salt in the South Australian wounds with his performances ever since.
Dangerfield, one of the competition’s most prolific midfielders this decade, averages more disposals, tackles, clearances and contested possessions against Adelaide than he does any other side.
In his first game against Adelaide, back in 2016, he had 33 disposals and 11 tackles in a gritty win at Adelaide Oval.
Last year, on the same ground, he racked up 33 touches and three goals, though the Cats fell short in a Thursday night classic.
And earlier this season, he had 32 disposals, 10 clearances and a goal to lead Geelong to victory.
Of course, individual stats count for little if your team doesn’t win, and the Cats have a tight 4-3 record against Adelaide with Dangerfield in their ranks.
But one thing you can almost guarantee at GMHBA Stadium on Friday night is that the AFLPA president is going to have a big game and do everything thing he can to drag Geelong over the line.
Cats fans and neutrals alike would be well advised to tune in for what promises to be another cracking episode of the ‘Danger Show’.
5. It’s been another tough year for the Western Bulldogs as they stare down the barrel of a third consecutive season devoid of September action.
But one piece of news this week will warm the hearts of everyone at the Whitten Oval and beyond.
Just 12 months after Dale Morris made a faster-than-usual comeback from a partial ACL rupture in his right knee, the much-loved defender is on the verge of doing the same again following a similar injury in his left knee.
Morris, who sustained the more recent damage during a training session in March, is likely to play at VFL level on Saturday when Footscray visits Port Melbourne.
The 36-year-old has played 252 AFL games and has a renowned ability to cope with injuries after famously playing with a broken bone in his back during the Bulldogs’ 2016 finals campaign.
He wrote his name in club folklore that year as part of the drought-breaking premiership team.
And while Morris won’t add another flag to his list of honours this year, simply returning to the field of play in such remarkable circumstances would be a victory in itself.
