Brisbane’s ability to limit Dustin Martin’s influence in their AFL outing last week is a positive form line to take into a preliminary final confrontation with Geelong star Patrick Dangerfield.
The two Brownlow medallists share similar traits and Dangerfield looms as the biggest individual threat to the Lions’ hopes of reaching the season decider, which is the prize on offer when they meet the Cats at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Martin had torn Brisbane apart in recent seasons but was held goalless from 18 possessions in their semi-final as the Lions’ team defensive approach paid dividends.
Dangerfield dominated with four goals in attack to spearhead the Cats’ thumping of Collingwood last week but has the potential to be equally as damaging through the midfield.
“It’s no different to the Dustin Martin situation two weeks ago where you have a plan for both (playing midfield and forward),” Brisbane coach Chris Fagan said.
“Ultimately what you want is your team to play really well so that if he’s playing up forward the supply is limited.
“As we saw last week, if he’s able to get relatively uncontested and easy ball coming in then he’s a nightmare.
“It will be the effort of the collective team that will decide how well any Geelong player will play.”
Fagan noted Dangerfield poses a slightly different threat to Martin.
“They’ve got some similarities but Dusty’s more of a ground ball player,” Fagan said.
“He gets the ball to ground and shifts you with his body, whereas Danger’s probably got that ability to lead and jump in the air, so he’s a little bit different.”
As usual, Dangerfield played predominantly through the midfield this season.
But he has spent more time in attack in recent weeks and was stationed almost exclusively in front half against Collingwood.
It came after he kicked three crucial second-half goals against Sydney in round 18 to secure the Cats’ top-four berth.
“It’s a constantly evolving discussion and debate that we have amongst our people,” Geelong coach Chris Scott said.
“The simple answer is we just try to read the game.
“We have a plan going in but stay on our toes and try to assess what’s best or what the game determines we need the most.”