In the Dangerfield household, Lachie Fogarty goes by ‘Uncle Fogs’.
The young Cat, who lives with the parents of Pat’s wife Mardi, has forged a close relationship with the Dangerfield and Harwood families.
The bond between the 17-game Cat and the Brownlow medallist is stronger than the typical one between a third and 13th year player.
“We spend a fair bit of time together,” Dangerfield says.
“Because he was living with my in-laws, we’d see a bit of each other. George (Dangerfield's young son) loves him so whenever we’re there George is playing with him in the back yard.”
“I don’t think George gives him a choice whether Lach wants to play or not. We’re a great young fella and we’re lucky to have him at the club.”
When Fogarty was drafted in November of 2017, Bruce and Jen Harwood were considering opening their doors to a young Cat.
“I think they thought about having a young player and then Lachie came up as an option. Lach liked the fit and Bruce liked the fit and it worked out pretty well,” Dangerfield says.
“This is his third year living with them so he has to move out after this year but I think it’s been good for him.”
Fogarty had an impressive first season in the hoops in 2018, playing 15 games before injury derailed his 2019 season.
He managed just two senior games last year, struggling to work his way back into the side after undergoing hip surgery at the start of 2019.
His VFL form was impressive, spending time through the midfield and demonstrating a strong clearance-winning ability.
“He’s had a wretched run with injury unfortunately but I’ve got no doubt that he’s going to be a really good AFL player for us for a really long period of time,” Dangerfield says.
“He’s played that forward role now for a few years now and I know he’s hoping and I see a future for him playing in our midfield.”
“He reminds me a lot of a younger sort of Tyson Edwards in the way that he plays.
“He’s super clean at ground level and his timing around clearances is really good and I want to see more of that at AFL level once he gets his body right and is able to get into some big blocks of training that unfortunately he just hasn’t quite had yet.
