Chris Scott responds to Sam Mitchell remark as footy world erupts over Patrick Dangerfield act

Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell put it best by declaring he's ready for Patrick Dangerfield to retire after watching the Geelong superstar destroy his side in Friday night's AFL preliminary final. Dangerfield was in just about everything as the Cats became the first team to qualify for next Saturday's AFL grand final after downing the Hawks 17.13 (115) to 13.7 (85) in front of more than 99,000 fans at the MCG.

Geelong will now face the winner of Saturday's second preliminary final between Collingwood and Brisbane in next week's AFL decider after an absolute clinic from Dangerfield on Friday night. At 35, the Cats veteran proved that he's just as influential as ever after booting three goals to go with 32 disposals and eight clearances in his 359th game.

The 30-point win was soured by a concussion to Geelong's Tom Stewart that rules him out of the grand final and has reignited debate about shifting the pre-finals bye to the week before the grand final. Stewart was subbed off in the first quarter after having both arms pinned in a tackle by Hawks star Mabior Chol and falling heavily on his head. Stewart now enters the mandatory 12-day stand down protocols for concussion, ruling him out of the decider.

The other major talking point from Geelong's impressive win centred around Dangerfield, whose vintage display is being hailed as one of the great individual finals performances. 'Danger' threw himself into contests all night and spearheaded Geelong's midfield dominance that helped claw back a fast start from Hawthorn and take charge of the contest.

The Cats were 21 points down when Dangerfield kicked their only goal of the first quarter. And it proved to be the catalyst for a finals masterclass from the Geelong veteran, whose 32 possessions included 21 contested. The skipper put his team on his back after Stewart's early departure, leaving them just one win away from a second premiership in four years.

Patrick Dangerfield display leaves AFL world in awe

Three-time Lions premiership legend Jonathan Brown was among those to suggest Dangerfield's performance was up there with his best ever. “Danger, that’s one of the greatest finals performances I’ve ever seen. We’ve seen a lot of them from Danger, but it’s starting to look a lot like 2022. He’s just timed his run beautifully.”

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Dual-premiership Geelong great Cameron Mooney described it as one of the all-time captain's knocks, as Dangerfield provided the spark for his side's comeback win. “The way Hawthorn started was absolutely fantastic,” Mooney said.

“But that second quarter to come back into it led by Patty, let’s be honest, he was unbelievable tonight. That was one of the greatest games I’ve seen a captain play for this football club. He led them into another grand final and somewhere they deserve to be.”

Mitchell admitted his side had few answers to Dangerfield and the Hawthorn coach summed it up perfectly after addressing the Geelong lynchpin's influence in his post-match press conference. “I’m certainly ready for Dangerfield to retire,” Mitchell laughed.

“He knows what matters; he’s not worried about his numbers. He knows the moments when he needs to get himself into the game and do something very hard to stop. He was a bit too powerful a few times today and a bit too dominant for us.”

Chris Scott responds to Sam Mitchell remark about 'Danger'

Geelong coach Scott joked that he also wanted Mitchell to retire during his playing days at Hawthorn that included four premierships. But the Cats mentor said agreed that his skipper was on another level after insisting Dangerfield was 'born to play' finals footy.

"I don't want to pretend that we just wrap him in cotton wool this time of year, but he was born to play at this time of year," the Geelong coach said about Dangerfield. "I hope it continues for a long, long time. He wasn't the only one, but when we were under pressure, I just thought that he was so influential."

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