The First Step!
Geelong scored an emphatic victory against a strong Collingwood side on Friday night, earmarking its intention for the season on 2009, redemption. In front of a respectable crowd of 37,000 (down on expectations) the NAB cup concluded with a one sided game and an issue with Etihad Stadiums roof being left open during the rain… Please explain?
Collingwood had stated during the lead up to the game that they wanted to win, prove that 2009 could be the year of the Magpie. The first quarter ended with the sides locked at 23 points a piece. The contest seemed to be well and truly alive. The only concern for Geelong was the ACL injury to premiership defender Josh Hunt who now looks set to miss 12 months of football.
With the second quarter came the beginning of the end for Collingwood. A reckless bump from ruckman Chris Bryan (which will be surely looked at during the week) on Joel Selwood resulted in Geelong’s first goal of the second term. The incident seemed to ignite the Cats. They pilled on 6 unanswered goals in the second term to put the game beyond the Pies who only managed one point in the second term.
Joel Selwood won the Michael Tuck Medal awarded to best on the ground. Selwood had 15 kicks and 18 handballs along with 2 goals and an amazing eleven clearances. Ablett also starred with 3 goals and 35 disposals. Gamble up forward for the Cats scored 3 goals which will surely see him play round one. The player who will receive the most scrutiny for Geelong will be Tom Hawkins who finished the night with only 3 behinds and only 2 marks for the match. This doesn’t seem to warrant round one selection with Cameron Mooney still to be recalled.
Collingwood look to have some areas to work on before round one. The Pies entered their forward fifty only 32 times which resulted in only 13 scoring shots, in contrast Geelong managed 37 scoring shots from 65 inside fifties. The other concern was only 58 marks compared to the 90 Geelong managed. The other stat that tells the story of the match was Collingwood having twelve less clearances than the Cats. By no means were Geelong perfect in the 76 point win, but the margin could have been far larger if it wasn’t for the 19 behinds the Cats scored in an area that let them down in 2008.
Collingwood seemed to lack the presence of Rocca up forward and will welcome him back with open arms. John Anthony was held scoreless by Matthew Scarlett as compared to his seven goals the week before. Collingwood appeared to lack Geelong’s pace in the midfield and made crucial mistakes that resulted in too many turnovers (67 turnovers resulting in 12 goals), against the quality of Geelong, teams can ill afford to make such mistakes. The match, while still only pre season, proved that Geelong is still well and truly one of the strongest sides in the competition. It also showed in order to match sides such as Geelong teams need to get everything right on the day. Another trophy for the cabinet for the Cats but more importantly for their 2009 campaign, the message has been clearly sent.
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