Captain Nathan van Berlo reflects on Patrick Dangerfield’s career at the Crows ahead of his 100^th game at AAMI Stadium on Saturday …

The early days …

“The first couple of times Danger came to the Club at the end of 2007, it was only for a day or two. He wasn’t scrawny like most kids coming into the AFL system. He was pretty well built and he was a confident young guy. There was a lot of hype around him and the Club’s decision to draft him, but our recruiters were adamant in selecting Danger and looking back it’s probably one of the best moves the Club has ever made.

“He stayed in Victoria in his first year with the Club (2008) to finish Year 12. When he’d come over for a few days every couple of months, the boys would get stuck into him … ‘what have you been doing at school? Finger painting? What did you get on your maths test?’

“Danger had obvious talent, but he was very raw. He loved training hard, but he’d train so hard that he couldn’t go any more. We’d have an hour-long session and he would go as hard as he could for the first 10 minutes and then blow up. He had to learn a bit of control in the way that he trained and also the way he played early on. But you’d much rather see that from a young player new to the system than a guy, who didn’t train hard enough.”

The debut …

“I remember his first AFL game against Essendon at Etihad Stadium (Round 20, 2008) and him kicking a goal with his first kick. Leading up to the game, there was a lot of talk about the form he’d had in the TAC Cup. I think he’d kicked eight goals a couple of weeks prior. I remember some of the older boys here saying, ‘It’s only an Under-18s competition, I’m not sure how he’s going to hold up against the big boys’, but sure enough he did.

“He didn’t set the world alight, but he showed he had what it took to play AFL footy. It was a proud moment for him and for the Club, seeing we had a young kid coming through who could seriously play.”

The making of a superstar …

“Danger’s always had the work ethic and also confidence to know that he’s good enough and can be one of the best players in the competition. He showed the footy world that last year. His breakout season stemmed from a breakout pre-season.

“He’s always had a good endurance base, but he knew he could take it to another level again. After the 2011 season and leading into season 2012, he really made an effort to strip down weight-wise as best he could – he puts on weight just looking at his food, especially those chickens he loves. But he stripped down and it made running a lot easier for him.

“He was able to match it with the best runners in our playing group that pre-season. It really just completed the package –a guy as quick as he is, with an excellent aerobic base, agility and strength … it’s a pretty mean combination. I haven’t seen a better all-round athlete.

“He’s also been incredibly durable. Saturday’s game will be his 100^th and 61^st in succession. It’s a remarkable achievement considering the way he plays. He’s one of our best inside players and wins the hard balls week-in and week-out. He’s the perfect prototype for a modern-day AFL player. You can play him anywhere and we probably need three of him at times.”

The party tricks …

“It’s a sign of a great player in the making, not being content with onestandout year. Danger’s getting tagged now, but is still performing. Hekeeps working hard and wanting to be better.

“I find myself in awe of some of the things Danger does on the field. I don’t really comment too much to my opponent about the game at all, but five or six times in the last year when Danger’s done something remarkable I’ve shook my head, laughed and said to my opponent, ‘he’s a freak’.

“He manages to kick unbelievable goals on either foot, or extract a ball from a stoppage where there are 15 players around the ball. When I finish playing footy, I reckon I’ll say ‘I used to play footy with Patty Dangerfield’.

“There aren’t too many players, who can change the course of a game through a few acts like he can. We all wish we could do it, but he can and does regularly. He can ignite the playing group on game day and that’s part of what leadership is. Off field, he’s continued to develop with the mentoring he does and the interest he shows in list management of the Club.

“He’s got a really broad knowledge of football in general. He’s really maturing. He’s a great teammate and I know he’ll be a great leader for the footy club now and in the future.”

The ‘responsible young man’ …

“He’s always been a responsible young man. He’s a total professional when it comes to preparing for each game. He doesn’t drink too often – he might have a few beers with the boys at the end of the season, but that’s about it.

“I remember when Danger stayed with Bernie and myself the very first time he came to Adelaide in ‘07’. He was 17-years-old and I don’t think he’d been to Adelaide before in his life. Bernie and I got the newspaper on the Saturday morning. We were doing a few jobs around the house and when we came back inside, Danger was sitting at the dining table reading the Real Estate section.

“Bernie and I looked at each other and thought, ‘what is this 17-year-old kid doing reading the Real Estate section? He wouldn’t even know the suburbs here’. We asked him what he was doing and he said, ‘I’m just getting my head around what Adelaide’s like and the house prices around town’.

“I thought it was very funny. Here’s a kid who hasn’t even had his first training session and he’s trying to work out what house he’s going to buy. He’s just like that, if he’s got an interest in something or a desire to have something, he’ll go and get it, whether it’s a ball on the footy field or a house. He had the confidence to know he’d make it.

“He has a house now and takes pride in renovating it – it’s one of his passions outside footy. He loves to go fishing even though he never catches much. The boys all think he’ll be the Mayor of Moggs Creek when he finishes up because he’ll go back there and be a tycoon, who owns half the town. He’s got a well-balanced lifestyle which helps keep him pretty grounded.”

The entertainer …

“There’s a serious side of Patty that trains and works hard, but he’s also able to switch off to an extent and have a laugh. He loves the stage. I’ve seen him do numerous impersonations from Jim Carrey, to Bear Grylls and anyone else he feels like taking off. He’s a real character around the Club.

“If you give him a microphone, he’ll certainly run with it and capture the audience. I think our supporters like seeing that side of him and he’s able to back it up with the performances he puts forward on the field.”

The next step …

“The scary thing is we still haven’t seen the best of Danger. He’s still only 23-years-old and is never satisfied with his game.

“It’s the best first 100 games I’ve seen since I’ve been at the footy club and, hopefully, there’s plenty more to come. I’m looking forward to seeing the highlights package after the next 100 games.”