ADELAIDE midfielder Patrick Dangerfield doesn’t expect his new contract to be negotiated until the end of the season, but says he has no plans to leave the club.
 
Dangerfield is one of a growing number of players to be linked to the new Gold Coast franchise and has also attracted interest from rival clubs in his home state of Victoria.
 
The Crows have several big-name players, including All-Australian Nathan Bock, forward Chris Knights and tough midfielder Scott Thompson coming out of contract at the end of the season, with Dangerfield’s signature considered among these as the club’s highest priority.
 
The 20-year-old has earned a reputation for his fearless and dynamic style of play since being drafted by Adelaide with pick No.10 in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.
 
He has been touted as a future leader at the Crows and said he was keen to continue his development at West Lakes.
 
“I have no plans on moving at all. It my contract will take care of itself at the end of the year, but I certainly have no plans at this stage of moving anywhere,” Dangerfield said on Tuesday.
 
“You want to enjoy the club that you’re at, the culture and being part of finals. The group that we’ve got here is a great group to be part of and I thoroughly enjoy the coaches and the way that they do it.
 
“[Negotiations] are not happening at the moment and that’s fine with me because I don’t really want to think about it at the moment. We’ve got 12 games to go to focus on and that’s where I’m putting my main interest.”

Dangerfield is the fan favourite to take over from retiring veteran Simon Goodwin as skipper of the club next season.

Last week, coach Neil Craig described Dangerfield as having leadership potential and the line-breaking goalkicker said he was flattered by his mentor’s assessment.

“I aspire to be a leader within the club. I’ve still got a lot to improve in that area of my game, but it’s nice to hear Neil say something like that,” Dangerfield said.

“When we’re not going so well it’s easy to hide away, but it takes courage to be able to stand up and lead when you’re facing adversity and that’s something I’ve focused on.”

The Crows are poised to make several changes for their clash with Fremantle at AAMI Stadium on Saturday.

Tyson Edwards will return to the side to play his farewell game and defender Graham Johncock will also be recalled after serving his club-imposed suspension in the SANFL last weekend.

Bock will miss Edwards’ swansong with a groin strain, leaving the task of minding in-form Freo forward Matthew Pavlich to Scott Stevens, Phil Davis or full-back Ben Rutten.

The game is likely to be played in front of a sell-out crowd and Dangerfield said it was important the club sent off club champion Edwards in the right manner.

“Tyson has been a magnificent player for the better part of 15-16 years. It’s important for us as a team to perform well, but it’s also important for us to put a good performance in for Tyson as well.”