WITH the sun beaming down on a beautiful day at the beach, Patrick Dangerfield told his good mate Rory Sloane he was leaving Adelaide.

The elite midfielders had formed a strong bond in eight seasons as teammates since they arrived at the Crows from Victoria at the end of 2008.

Dangerfield's future was the subject of intense scrutiny last year before he requested a trade to Geelong at the end of the season to be closer to his family.

"It was a nice moment between us both,'' Sloane told AFL.com.au.

"We just talked about it and reflected on the times we played together.

"Now he just sends me photos of him surfing every weekend, which just annoys me now … he's got to stop that.

''There's always that connection of moving over from Melbourne at a similar time.''

Dangerfield returns to Adelaide Oval on Friday night as arguably the best player in the competition and favourite for this year's Brownlow Medal.

He ended his Crows career winning the club's best and fairest.

Sloane was drafted the year after Dangerfield, who remained in Victoria to complete his final year of high school before joining the Crows.

''As he let us know, that's a decision he made for his family and his partner Mardi,'' Sloane said.

''We completely understand it.

"He's given us eight years of very good service to the club and we respect him for that.''

Sloane said he had "a bit of a different thought process'' when he decided last year to re-sign with the Crows until the end of 2018.

''All I was concerned about was what it would look like starting a family in a different state,'' Sloane said.

''That was pretty much it.''

While there may be some friendly sledging on the field, the biggest unknown is the reaction the Adelaide crowd will give to its former favourite son.

"There will probably be a couple that might have taken it to heart, but I'm sure most the fans are pretty respectful and will thank him for the eight years he gave because he played some pretty good footy, especially in his last year,'' Sloane said.

Limiting the impact of Adelaide's 2015 best and fairest is only part of the task facing the Crows midfielders.

Sloane said they were desperate to bounce back after having their colours lowered in last week's 15-point loss to the Bulldogs.

''We let the team down and that doesn't sit too well in the guts for us as a group,'' Sloane said.

''Our midfield has never relied on one guy to do the job.

''We've had young guys like Matty Crouch stand up. Cam Ellis-Yolmen's playing really solid footy in the SANFL. Brad Crouch has come back from injury. Jarryd Lyons is in and out of the side and Scotty Thompson is in great form, too.

''We've got a whole range of guys who are standing up and playing some really solid footy, which is what we need, a real even contribution from these guys.''