Geelong superstar Patrick Dangerfield agrees to one-year deal to play on in 2027.
Geelong and Patrick Dangerfield have agreed a contract for 2027, confirming the Cats’ veteran superstar will play in his 20th AFL season.
The Cats and their captain have agreed terms on a one-year deal for 2027; Dangerfield will play the way he wants and move toward the 400-game mark, according to industry sources familiar with Dangerfield’s deal, who spoke anonymously to discuss player contracts.
Dangerfield, who was drafted by the Adelaide Crows in 2007, will be playing in his 12th season at Geelong; It is an astonishing turnaround for a player and club who joined forces for the 2016 season and helped prevent a potential slide by the Cats.
Dangerfield would play his 15th game of 2026 and the 375th game of his career against the Demons on Friday night. Dangerfield, who is recovering from a calf injury, missed the second through fifth rounds this season.
He entered Friday’s match with 18 goals and an average of just under 15 turnovers, having been deployed as a striker rather than a midfielder since 2025. He was instrumental in Geelong defeating Hawthorn to progress to the grand final with one of the best games of his career in the preliminary final (31 disposals, three goals, nine inside 50s). He was second in the AFL for goal assists last year.
Carefully managed by the Cats, Dangerfield will need a further 20 games to reach 400 games in 2027 if they play all remaining matches and a final. He will turn 37 in April.
Dangerfield needs four votes in the Brownlow Medal to overtake former teammate Gary Ablett (262 votes) to become the player with the most votes for the award in the game’s history.
Dangerfield, one of the AFL’s most decorated champions with a Brownlow Medal (2016) and eight all-Australian hurlers (equaling the most of any current player with Max Gawn), had signaled earlier this season that he wanted to play in 2027. He captained the Cats for four seasons and was an influential chairman of the AFL Players’ Association from 2018 until early 2025.
Like many other Geelong greats, including the retired Joel Selwood and Tom Hawkins, Dangerfield played well into his 30s with significantly diminished dollars in his twilight years; This was repeated at Collingwood, where Scott Pendlebury, Steele Sidebottom and Jeremy Howe continued their careers into their mid-30s or later.
Geelong’s capacity to keep experienced players playing at a high level on mid-to-low contracts into their 30s has helped the Cats recruit select players from rival clubs.
They are leading candidates should Giants captain and free agent Toby Greene leave, and remain interested in St Kilda ruckman Rowan Marshall, whom the Saints retained despite Marshall’s trade offer to Geelong last October.
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Jake Niall is a Walkley-winning sports journalist and The Age’s chief AFL writer.Connect with: X or email.
