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March 14, 2007
Cats serve a raw performance
Credit to Brisbane just too good on the night. After a slow start in the first quarter in which we still looked to be mentally in Darwin , Geelong stepped it up to really control most of the play in the next half of the game but just could get the scoreboard to reflect this dominance. It seemed every time Geelong was on the verge of doming some damage , the Lions would find a way to a 9 pointer. Their kids looked keen and were intent on running back hard while we seemed to be almost stuck in 3rd gear. I’d say Brisbane looked fresher than the Cats, I don’t know if that has anything to do with our long distance travel to Darwin, don’t know if its us still training hard but is was noticeable that we looked a bit leaden.
I suppose one should be positive. Geelong’s effort in this game was very much inline with most peoples opinion of the Pre-season comp. Try but don’t be overly concerned with the result. Not to take anything away from the Lions but watching the game I always thought Geelong had enough ball, had enough experience , had enough forward entries and more than enough set shots to have wrapped this up but we just didn’t seem on our game. Our skills were far from sharp and whether this is an area that may still be our 'Achilles heel' is really is a discussion for another day but the “Usual Suspects” were at it again.I’m sure, pre-season or not most, would have liked them to hit more targets running thru the middle.
Individually, Gary Ablett seemed to hurt himself fairly early which meant the coaching staff put him in cotton wool for the night and Hunt seemed to hurt his leg and was also put on ice. Chapman never played. King played a minor role and compared to the first two games I thought Selwood's absence was notable. We seemed very reliant on Mooney kicking goals for us because our mids really didn’t look to threatening. Gardiner did a bit without being convincing and Nathan Ablett yet again seemed to show hints of salt and pepper. He seems to have good hands but weak arms. Inspite of this he is getting enough ball to have shots at goal, which he is basically wasting. He is a better kick than he is showing at the moment so I’m not sure what the story is.
The game allowed us to see the number 5 back in action with Varcoe making his debut with the main group. He scalped a couple of goals with grubber kicks in the square but it was what didn’t work on the night which hinted at what he may be worth to us down the track. It was when he sharked the ball from a Djerrkura kick and nearly kicked a goal on the run around the corner, one got the feeling that he may be a player capable breaking games open the track with “Ronnie Burns” type goals. Could be quite entertaining watching these two as they get to know each others games.
Look in the end, no real harm done. We can now re-focus on a practice game this week and sharpen ourselves for the season proper. Come the first game against the Dogs one hopes we are far closer to being ready than we appeared Sat night.
GEELONG: 0.1.1, 0.3.4, 0.9.8, 0.10.13 (73)
BRISBANE LIONS: 1.2.4, 1.2.7, 3.4.8, 3.8.10 (85)
NINE POINT GOALS: Geelong: Nil.
Brisbane Lions: Adcock, Black, Begley.
SIX POINT GOALS: Geelong: Mooney 3, Gardiner 3, Varcoe 2, Byrnes, Milburn. Brisbane Lions: Sherman 3, Johnson 2, Tyler, Patfull, Power.
BEST: Geelong: Enright, Bartel, Mooney, Gardiner, Kelly, Milburn, Byrnes. Brisbane Lions: Rischitelli, Black, Sherman, Power, Copeland, Johnson, Notting.
INJURIES: Geelong: J Hunt (strained knee). Brisbane Lions: Nil.
REPORTS: Nil. UMPIRES: McBurney, Head, Nicholls, Ryan.
CROWD: 14,475 at Telstra Dome, Melbourne.
Stats from AFL .com
Posted by Turbocat at March 14, 2007 08:30 PM
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