Confidence and never complacency has captain Patrick Dangerfield apprehensive as Geelong climate the worst begin to an AFL season by reigning premiers since 1976.
The Cats are mired in a 0-3 hole forward of the normal Easter Monday conflict in opposition to Hawthorn, who’re coming off a morale-boosting win over North Melbourne.
But the brand new Geelong skipper notes that they’ve been within the hunt by way of all three video games, with 22 factors their greatest shedding margin.
He additionally joked they’re just one win outdoors the highest eight.
“My expertise in Geelong – and I feel it has been Geelong’s expertise for a very long time – complacency has by no means been a difficulty for the membership,” Dangerfield stated on Tuesday.
“It’s been uber-successful for an extended interval. We’ve had plenty of change from final 12 months, so there’s an enormous quantity of starvation.
“The problem we now have in the meanwhile is the arrogance, and that is clear for any group that struggles with consistency and struggles with wins.”
Dangerfield added the answer was not specializing in the 0-3 report, however what they want to do to repair it.
“It’s the method that underpins why you win and lose. We want to ensure we maintain that, not simply lassoing ourselves to the wins and losses column, it is the method that underpins it,” he stated.
“It’s not clicking your fingers – that is the robust half.
“It appears like there is a degree of frustration within the group that we ought to be enjoying higher.
“It could be a special vibe had we been completely smoked in each sport.”
Dangerfield disregarded any discuss that the captaincy was affecting his kind and equally dismissed a query about whether or not alarm bells had been ringing at Geelong.
“It’s a very good headline that you will go along with this afternoon, I’m positive,” he stated.
Many points are bedevilling the Cats – Mitch Duncan has been injured, plus recruits Tanner Bruhn, Jack Bowes and Ollie Henry are taking time to adapt to their new group.
Tom Hawkins can also be struggling after returning from low season foot damage, however Dangerfield stated he has not come again too shortly and added the important thing ahead stays an enormous headache for opposition defenders.
“We have not helped Hawk with the way in which we have moved the footy – that half is actually, actually clear,” he stated.
“We have not helped him in any respect.
“I’ve enormous confidence within the huge fella.”
While Dangerfield is upbeat about their prospects, he acknowledged they want to rally quickly.
“I’m actually optimistic with what we are able to do, as a result of it is not far-off. We simply want to ensure we get it rolling sooner fairly than later,” he stated.
He was requested if their poor begin meant extra strain forward of Monday’s sport.
“More strain? Perhaps, however strain makes diamonds,” he stated.
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