Adelaide coach Don Pyke says it’s up to Crows fans how they treat Patrick Dangerfield on Friday night.
Dangerfield returns with Geelong to play against his former AFL side for the first time since leaving Adelaide at the end of last season.
“It’s not for me to suggest how they (fans) treat him on the night,” Pyke told reporters on Tuesday,
“We are going to focus on playing Geelong, not necessarily playing him.”
The Crows boss played a straight-bat to the return of Dangerfield, Adelaide’s reigning champion who has settled in superbly at Geelong.
“What will it be like? Well, he’s a player that has obviously been at this club,” Pyke said.
“But he’s a player that is now playing at Geelong … we will treat him as another player and an opponent we want to beat.”
Pyke’s Crows enter the game with clarification from the AFL umpiring department about contentious calls in Adelaide’s 15-point loss to the Western Bulldogs last Saturday night.
Pyke said Adelaide sought answers on holding the ball and ducking the head interpretations in the match.
“I had a chat with the umpires advisor today … and we move on,” he said.
“It’s fair to say on reflection it was a number of free kicks which were our doing. And we have got to improve in those areas … but it certainly wasn’t a reason we lost a game of footy.
“We just need to know so we can coach the players accordingly.”