PATRICK Dangerfield will enjoy this weekend's bye to rest his battered body but the Adelaide superstar says concerns over his fitness have been overblown.
Dangerfield has been put through countless fitness tests at training this season but has managed to overcome each battle he's had with injury.
The 24-year-old said this year was no different to any other he's played at the top level, insisting he hasn't been close to missing a game all year.
The Crows have this weekend off as part of the split round, before taking on Collingwood.
"It'll be nice to have the weekend off rather than getting bashed around," Dangerfield said.
"You get a niggle here and there most weeks but it just seems to have been blown out of proportion most weeks throughout the season.
"It's quite similar to last season and the season before that.
"I've had a bit of a dodgy ankle for a majority of the season so when you have that, you might tweak it during the game and [with] the amount of media coverage that each game has now, everything just gets magnified."
The Crows narrowly missed out on an opportunity last Friday night to push into the top eight for the first time this year, losing to Hawthorn by 12 points.
Adelaide is dangerously close to having its finals hopes extinguished, sitting a win adrift of the eighth-placed Magpies – coincidentally, its next opponent.
Dangerfield was pragmatic about the Crows' top-eight claims, saying it was pointless to suggest they were better than their current ladder position (10th) suggested.
"At the moment we've played some good footy but we're ranked outside of the top eight – so that's where we're at," he said.
"There's no point thinking we could be higher. We focus on our next opponent, who are in the eight and we plan to knock them over."
If the Crows were to successfully push into the top eight, Dangerfield said they would need to refine their balance between contested possession and outside run.
Adelaide easily beat the Hawks last Friday in contested possession (174-144) but a lopsided uncontested mark count (70-43) suggested the reigning premiers were able to spread quickly and easily from stoppages to find free space.
Dangerfield was pleased with his side's recent consistent form, but conceded a lack outside run remained an issue.
"It's just about bridging that gap between the good and the poor and having more consistently good performances," he said.
"That's what every team is searching for ... we're doing the same thing.
"We've certainly improved in that area ... the effort's certainly there and we're starting to get the rewards – we're playing some better footy.
"We're winning the contested possession but on the outside Hawthorn have really good runners and I thought their balance between the inside and outside was really good."
