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March 09, 2006
NAB Cup Round 2: Kangaroos Vs Geelong
On Saturday night we took on our somewhat rivals in the Kangaroos in the sticky sauna that is Cairns. Cazaly Stadium is a happy hunting ground for the pre-season Cats having enjoyed wins against Port Adelaide and Brisbane in the last 3 seasons.
Chappy didn't make the team complaining of knee soreness but with an extended bench in came Stokes along with rookies Batchelor and Slade. Yes, Will Slade. Remember him?
Slade will always go down in history and have a special place in my heart for saying possibly the most honest quote in the history of football, and this was just after a handfull of games.
You know Dermott. He thinks he's the expert on everything!
Good old Sladey is spot on. Channel 9 even had him doing the weather at some stage FFS.
The Kanga's on the other hand went in with 12 players out, 8 of which finished top 10 in their best & fairest last year and represented 1700 games combined, but with us still missing a plethorea of big men it wasn't 'Advance to the semi-finals & collect $200' time just yet.
The game was very scrappy early. Gazza pressured hard in our attacking 50 and was rewarded with a goal. Corey took a good mark backing back in defence, but his kick was poor and lead to a Rocca goal. The goals continued to swing back and forth with Lonergan registering from a free kick in the goal square, but two goals from LeCras and David Hale made Scarlo look stupid by selling a dummy and finishing nicely. We fought back in the 2nd half of the quarter, but poor kicking from Lonergan, Kingsley & Koula hurt us before Ling goaled on the siren to keep us in touch.
Kangaroos 0.4.1.25 Geelong 0.3.3.21
The Kangaroos were very tough at the football in the first quarter and our midfield needed to lift if we were to go on to win like we should. We lifted, but our footy smarts were not with us as we continually bombed it in to a forward line a) Lacking a genuine target & b) Had 3 extra Kangaroo defenders.
It took nearly 25 minutes for anyone to score in the quarter and that was a goal from Cameron "I never miss in AFL football" Thurley after a piss poor free kick. Cam wasn't going to win his own ball tonight, he was horrible and if he continues like that all season we won't miss him one bit. We were resting the core of the midfield throughout the match giving opportunities to Batchelor, Slade, Tenace, Prismall & Stokes. It was the latter who through some good play found Kingsley on the lead. He unselfishly handballed to Bartel alone in the square, enough said.
Kangaroos 0.5.1.31 Geelong 0.4.4.28
Having made a huge 1 point indentation into the Kangaroos lead since quarter time it was important we had a good 'NAB Cup Premiership Quarter'. It didn't start off too well with poor pressure from the midfield leading to Pratt slotting through a supergoal for the Roo boys. Minutes later The Kolonel was seen in tears and Kingsley was taken from the ground with a hamstring injury he suffered on a marking lead. Kingsley leaving the ground ironically lead to us breaking free and running amuck. Shannon Bynres set up Milburn for a snap around the corner, then great hands out of the centre bounce from Gaz and Pris lead to a Monty Byrnes super goal, excellent. Minutes later Koula slotted home from a soft free kick and we had a decent lead until 'The Big Sav' slotted home two late quarter goals. Stokes continued to impress with an excellent turnover only from him to miss running into an open goal.
Kangaroos 1.7.3.54 Geelong 1.6.13.58
If it is one thing this NAB Cup has taught us, it's that we still fuck around with the ball inside 50 too much after taking marks as Mooney wasted a perfect opportunity in the opening minutes of the last quarter. With the game on the line we gave the Kellys, Lings, Bartels etc more time on the ball and it showed. Kelly started the final term like a house on fire and was rewarded for his efforts with a goal. Nathan Ablett had another quiet night, but goaled from a soft free kick to virtually wrap the game up, only for Harris to get a free kick at the other end to keep the mob in touch.
Stokes (our find of the game) again combined well with a team mate this time allowing Monty to slot home another very smooth game on the run. Monty didn't get a mountain of touches, but his disposal improved a lot on last weeks efforts despite a poor start again on Saturday, but if he runs and kicks two goals from our midfield every game he'll be in the 22. In an unlikely turn of events Matthew "Spanner" Spencer capped the night off with a crumbing goal in the square after coming back on the field from shoulder problems.
With only a few minutes left Jarad Rooke proved to be another injury concern as he went down hard in a tackle and suffered concussion, having to be stretchered from the ground.
Final Scores
Kangaroos 1.8.3.60
Geelong 1.10.17.86
Some general thoughts & observations. Our kicking for goal (see directly above) was woeful due mainly to Lonergan, Kingsley (9.0? You're having a laugh) & Gazza. Most of our stars had small roles throughout the night being heavily rotated, but it gave the chance to Stokes, Byrnes, Slade, Tenace, Prismall & Koula who all somewhat impressed me in one way or another during the night. While Lonergan's game was pretty solid except for his kicking.
Except our rolls royce midfielders to have a lot more time against Fremantle this Saturday night.
Posted by Sammy D at March 9, 2006 09:50 PM