#Danger300
I asked Danger to write something about himself - but he politely declined - sighting humility.
Now those of us who know him well, know too well that he's never afraid to remind us how great he is so his excuse does not wash with me. I just put it down to him being too slack to open the MacBook.
So, the responsibility falls with me to describe Pat and what makes him the rare package that he is - in a positive way and in a weird way.
Let's start with the bad. I can only think of two weaknesses in his arsenal.
1) He's yet to learn he's actually a right foot kick.
2) He consistently arrives to our podcast underprepared.
Aside from that, there's very little to complain about when it comes to No. 35 of the blue and white hoops.
As someone who has been around him during his career more than almost anyone, here is what I see and what makes him a generationally great player.
DANGER has always been ahead of the game in terms of maturity and understanding himself as a person and athlete and remaining true to that.
At 22, he was taking 'kids' into his home and showing them the ropes when it came to preparing and performing as an AFL athlete. I recall Crows youngsters Will Young, Sam Martyn, Sam Kerridge and Jake Kelly spending their early months and years under the roof of 'Chateau Le Dangerfield' (His term, not mine).
Instead of getting to the pubs and clubs at the first sight of a few days off, Danger was more eager to work on his fishing boat, browse through home styling magazines and shop for clothes that had no right to be worn inside a footy club (see below photo). He's since lowered his own dress standards.
Danger's performances as a Crow somehow went under the radar - as can be the case with interstate players. I found it ironic in a sense that he won a Brownlow Medal immediately after leaving the Crows.
Some of Pat's work as a Crow was breathtaking. He's a more hardened and dogged player these days with a role more focussed on contested possessions and clearance work.
As a Crow, some of his work bursting away from centre bounces and taking games over was next level. He also won more than a few games for both teams as a permanent forward. Imagine how many more he would've won had he learned how to kick for goal. But, as he reminds me, he has kicked more goals between the two of us.
I vividly recall myself - and team mates - occasionally thinking and saying mid-game, 'what did he just do and how did he do that?'
As Crows, myself, Danger and Tommy Lynch were inseparable. We all had girlfriends when we moved to Adelaide but we spent more time with each other than we did with the girlfriends.
Our downtime was shopping - where Pat and I would 'pull the trigger' and buy up whilst Tommy would talk a big game but always keep the credit card in the deepest pocket - and coffees, where Pat's order embarrassed me every time I was forced to shout him one. I think he's moved off this one, but he used to take his coffee like this... weak latte with sugar caramelised across the top of the froth. Staggering stuff! You can imagine the looks I got when having to order those for an All-Australian midfield bull.
I recall the day Pat told me he was fleeing the Crows nest for the Cattery.
Lynchy knew already and was hiding under the pillows on the couch trying not to giggle. Pat said something along the lines of 'I'm leaving at the end of the season' and I think I replied with 'no shit.'
Danger was always coming home.
Playing footy in front of his large family, living where he was raised and playing for the club he loved as a boy was always going to be too good to pass up.
I know more than most how much Pat loved playing for - and living in - Adelaide but when he and Mardi were beginning to think about having babies, Moggs Creek was always the place for them.
My favourite performance from Pat was the day Lynchy kicked 10, yet Danger took home maximum Brownlow Medal votes.
Pat was a powerful leader in the wake of Phil Walsh's passing. He always had a way of rallying people and making them feel valuable and liked.
And I can still remember the night we played at Geelong, in one of his last games as a Crow and the Cats fans were cheering for him like he was one of their own..
They were doing that because he's always been one of their own - he just kicked things off in another city.
Game 300 comes and goes. And I get the feeling Pat wants game 303 more than this one. And he wants game 303 to happen this season because hopefully game 303 will be at the MCG on the last Saturday in September!
It's been a pleasure being around Danger throughout his career!
We've played together as Crows.
We've been opponents when he was a Cat and I was a Crow.
Then we played together as Cats, once against the Crows.
It's been fun all the way along. On the field, in the podcasting studio and everywhere in between.
Good luck, go well and may there be many more games and good times ahead.