ADELAIDE forward Josh Jenkins says he’d relish the prospect of beating former teammate Patrick Dangerfield in a home preliminary final.
The Crows earned the week off with a comprehensive victory over GWS, while Dangerfield’s Cats will have to do things the hard way, with a semi-final next week.
If the Cats prevail, they’ll have to face the Crows in Adelaide for a spot in the grand final — meaning Dangerfield would be facing his ex-teammates for the honour.
Jenkins couldn’t help but take a cheeky dig at the midfielder who was traded from Adelaide to Geelong at the end of 2015.
“Oh 100 per cent (I’d love to beat Dangerfield) — they do have to get there first so they’ve got to take care of their business,” Jenkins said on Fox Sports News’ Gameday Live.
“But if he marches into town with his Geelong teammates, there’d be nothing better than beating him and reminding him that perhaps he should have stuck around with us and he could be a Brownlow Medallist and a premiership player.”
When asked about the comments, Dangerfield indicated he’d be keeping the comments in mind.
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd asked the Geelong star: “In the memory bank, Paddy?”
To which Dangerfield responded: “What do you reckon, Lloydy?”
Safe to say, comments banked.
Dangerfield requested a trade from the Crows to the Cats at the end of 2015 after playing 154 games in South Australia.
Jenkins said he was confident the Crows could handle the Cats — or any other opponent — in their home preliminary final.
“It was a shame the Cats dropped one at home last night but we’re excited, we’ve earned the right to play at home in a prelim final,” he said.
“It doesn’t really matter who comes through Adelaide, we’ll be confident we can beat them.”
Former Saints and North Melbourne defender Nick Dal Santo said he loved hearing the Jenkins banter on Saturday morning.
But Dal Santo added that it would be no laughing matter for Dangerfield if the Crows not only beat the Cats in a prelim, but went on to win the Grand Final just a couple of years after the superstar midfielder left the club.
“You play football to win premierships and Danger’s made some decisions to come home, which is a big part of life to come,” Dal Santo told Fox Sports News’ AFL Today.
“You don’t want to lose to the Adelaide Crows and then (see them) go on the next week and win the whole thing.”
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