WE CAN talk about Friday night's Adelaide-Geelong clash as a match-up between two in-form clubs with aspirations of playing deep into September. Given how even the season is shaping, perhaps they might be playing on the first Saturday in October.

For some, the game will bring back memories of the events of last July, specifically the tragic death of Adelaide coach Phil Walsh. The Crows and the Cats were supposed to play the following Sunday – just two days later – but the match was cancelled.

But the main reason for the hype around this match is Patrick Dangerfield. The Adelaide champion packed his bags at the end of last season, after eight outstanding years with the Crows, to head to Geelong.

Add the bright lights of Friday night footy, the prospect of the biggest crowd yet at the Adelaide Oval and an expectant national TV audience and you get a mouth-watering clash. It should be compulsive viewing.

This year, Adelaide has been a better team than most imagined.

"We're in a good place," Crows chairman Rob Chapman recently said when speaking of an organisation that had been to hell and back.

"The events of last year have been well documented, but we were lucky enough to win the last few games, earn a place to play finals and beat the Western Bulldogs. That was cathartic to stay together and play together as a team."

There were concerns throughout the second half of last season about what might happen when the Adelaide players, who had been playing – and grieving – together, went their separate ways after their season in the first semi-final.

"We will never, ever, forget the events that occurred and probably never move on from it, but I think we've overcome it," Chapman said.

The new coach was always going to enter a difficult environment. Don Pyke had spent many years working in football after his retirement as a player and last season was an assistant to Adam Simpson as West Coast made the Grand Final.

But the dual West Coast premiership player had been back in full-time football for only a couple of seasons after several years working in the resources sector in Western Australia.

"He's an excellent coach with a command of all things football, but brings a business sense to it," Chapman said.

Importantly, there was a strong people-focus to Pyke's career outside football, which made him a great fit for the Crows.

As he said in a visit to AFL.com.au earlier this year, it is easier to inspire a group of footballers to run out in front of 50,000 fans than it is a few people in an office conference room looking at a whiteboard.

"I enjoyed business, but nothing really replaces the passion of footy," he said. "It's a great industry and one of the reasons I wanted to get back into it was you've got this emotion, passion, drive and energy from young people who want to come together to do great things."

There is a genuine desire for greatness at Adelaide. Seven games into 2016, the Crows are 4-3, but their three losses – all away from home – have been by a combined 28 points. They are unbeaten in three home games, including a 10-point win over the Sydney Swans.

For Geelong, the benefits of Dangerfield's recruitment are plain to see. Since Chris Scott took over as coach in 2011, the Cats have never been in the positive for clearance differential. Last season, they conceded an average of nearly six contested possessions a match and were ranked 13th in the AFL in this category.

Enter contested-football beast Dangerfield and Geelong is now winning the contested-possession count by an average of 9.1 a match. The Cats rank No. 3 in the AFL in this category.

Having added Dangerfield, Lachie Henderson and Zac Smith to the club, there is little wonder the Cats are off to a flyer with six wins from their first seven games. There is a buzz around Geelong and it is a good place to be.

Dangerfield, 26, is a savvy media operator and pretty much from his first day at the club has made himself available for whatever the Cats needed.

But after eight seasons in Adelaide, where the obsession with football puts Geelong and just about everywhere else in Australia to shame, Dangerfield knows a thing or two about how to handle the limelight.

What sort of reception he will be afforded against the Crows? In a strange twist, he was greeted with a chorus of boos when he returned to Adelaide Oval in round five for the match against Port Adelaide.

This time around, there will be jeers once more. Whether it will be full-bottled or more theatrical in nature remains to be seen.

"I think they will cheer and be really happy for me," Dangerfield said jokingly last week.

"I spent a long time there and played a lot of footy there and have great mates there and I would be lying if I didn't say I was looking forward to playing against them."

This is an edited version of a feature story published in the round-eight edition of the AFL Record, available at all match venues this weekend.