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Exclusive: Dangerfield discusses his footy future

Adelaide Crows midfielder Patrick Dangerfield says the footy world is more caught up in the intrigue around his playing future than he is.

Dangerfield, 25, told aflplayers.com.au that the club and his Adelaide teammates weren’t putting pressure on him to ink a new deal with the Crows.

“They (his teammates) are of a similar view – it’s about performance, we’re a performance-based industry,” Dangerfield said.

“It doesn’t get spoken about too much because to me it’s not that big an issue and they’ve got bigger things to worry about as well.”

Dangerfield spent time with his management on Tuesday night in Adelaide but said his football future wasn’t on the agenda.

He was quizzed at length about the meeting with Paul Connors on Adelaide radio on Wednesday morning, and speculation continued throughout the day – as it has done for much of 2015.

“I think it bothers other people more than it bothers me,” Dangerfield said.

“The contract talk doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother most media outlets around the country that are involved in footy. I will control what I can control.” – Patrick Dangerfield

“My job is to perform on match day. That’s the most important thing. Then obviously there’s the preparation that goes into your training and recovery.

“It doesn’t bother me as much as it seems to bother most media outlets around the country that are involved in footy.

“I will control what I can control. That’s the way I perform on match day, the preparation leading up to it, and how I can contribute and help others around the football club. The rest, to be honest, is just background noise.”

Dangerfield said there was no timeframe in place for his decision.

“A fair bit gets thrown out the window with what has happened at the footy club over the past month.

“That’s taken a huge mental toll on the football club in terms of dealing with that.

“It was such an enormous influence that Phil had.

“In terms of a time (to make a decision), there’s none at the moment.”

His focus, as it has been all season, is helping the Crows cement a place in the finals.

Dangerfield is adamant Adelaide can do some damage if they reach September.

“It’s really important for us to get a really even contribution from everyone.

“It’s pretty tight for spots around that 7-8 mark (on the ladder).

“The only thing that we can control is the way that we play.

“We can’t look to rely on other results falling our way, we just need to win as many games as possible.”