BRISBANE stopper Josh Dunkley was in awe of Patrick Dangerfield's preliminary final performance but says he's ready to man the Geelong superstar should he begin running riot on Saturday.
Dunkley is the Lions' go-to midfielder for quelling the influence of opposition stars, and says he has a host of Cats to pick from ahead of the Grand Final.
While Max Holmes and Bailey Smith are obvious targets, it was Dangerfield that lit up last Friday night's match against Hawthorn with his jaw-dropping 31-disposal, three goal performance.
"Seeing the way he played last week was insane," Dunkley said on Friday morning.
"It was one of the best games I've ever seen.
"To see him do it in the contest and also do it forward and kick goals, it was just incredible to watch.
"I was sitting in the hotel before our game (against Collingwood on Saturday), watching and thinking, 'Gees, how good's this bloke?'"
Dunkley is preparing for the fifth Grand Final of his career and is in the midst of his best individual season, earning selection in the 44-man All-Australian squad.
Coach Chris Fagan has described him as the best defensive midfielder he's ever seen.
Dunkley said he always played "on edge" and was ready to switch from ball-hunter to lockdown midfielder when the situation demanded.
"When they get some momentum or someone gets on top in the stoppages, I'll probably pay attention to them," he said.
"If I'm not going off the ground soon, I'll probably make the decision on-field and the coaches back me to do that.
"If I'm coming off, I'll have a chat to our midfield coach (Cameron Bruce) and 'Fages'. It's just good communication from all."
Dunkley said Brisbane had learned plenty from its qualifying final loss to the Cats three weeks ago and would not be caught out in the decider.
"They showed us a few things we weren't thinking about," he said.
"To get some exposure to that, we've looked at it through the week and we're aware of what they do.
"We've put some things in place to try and stop that and get it going our way."
