Five things we loved about the Mighty Cats’ 19-point win over the Blues at Etihad Stadium on Sunday and the VFL Cats’ 87-point win over Richmond at Simonds Stadium on Saturday.
1. Cameron Guthrie’s blind-turn and goal
The Cats were 23 points up midway through the second quarter of Sunday’s game when Guthrie pounced on a low ball inside the forward 50. Not only did he cleanly pick up the Sherrin off the deck, he then blind-turned away from Blues onballer Dale Thomas and kicked a brilliant running goal. Guthrie had been playing on his boyhood idol, Carlton great Chris Judd, and his great goal was reminiscent of Judd at his best.
2. Jed Bews’ work in the backline
It seems Jed Bews and Billie Smedts are fighting for the small defender position in the team to play Hawthorn in round one. With Smedts ruled out of Sunday’s NAB Challenge game due to back soreness, Bews stakes his claim for the role with a very solid performance on dangerous Carlton small forward Troy Menzel. Although Menzel finished with 14 touches and two goals, Bews competed strongly all game and racked up 12 disposals and four marks of his own.
Read the match report from the win over the Blues
3. Hamish McIntosh’s impressive VFL display
With the position of first ruckman in the round one side very much up for grabs, Hamish McIntosh put his hand up with a dominant performance in the Cats’ VFL win over Richmond on Saturday. McIntosh finished the game with 21 disposals, nine marks, 37 hit-outs and two goals. The match committee members will now choose between him and Dawson Simpson when they pick their team to take on Hawthorn on Easter Monday. Simpson remains very much in the mix. He lined up against Carlton on Sunday and finished with six disposals and 21 hit-outs.
Read Angus Kramer’s VFL match report
4. More members signing up
Prior to the clash with the Blues, the @geelongcats Twitter account received a message from Matt Hustwaite saying that he would buy a membership if Steve Johnson tallied 20 or more disposals in his first NAB Challenge game of the season. Johnson had a very encouraging outing against the Blues, running through the midfield and the forward line and even kicking the last goal of the game, but to the disappointment of the membership department he managed only 19 disposals. Yet our man Hustwaite came to the party anyway after the game, committing to sign up as a Mighty Member for what looks like being another very entertaining season.
@GeelongCats Of course it is! This has been a fun way to get to the inevitable anyway - my 2015 membership! Great game @StevieJohnson!
— Matt Hustwaite (@MattHussy) March 22, 2015
5. And these were the fans’ favourite Mighty Moments from the weekend. (No surprise there is plenty of love for the new dynamic forward line duo of Tom Hawkins and Mitch Clark, who kicked eight goals between them.)
@GeelongCats Lang intensity, Clarke/Hawkins working well together, Guthrie playing an attacking style & Cockatoo running through the middle!
— Daniel McLean (@DanielMcLean40) March 22, 2015
@GeelongCats #NABChallenge The awesome combo of @tomhawkins_ and @mitchjclark - these two will be the ones to watch this season!!
— Rachel Ford (@Snackycake1975) March 22, 2015
@GeelongCats Lang intensity, Clarke/Hawkins working well together, Guthrie playing an attacking style & Cockatoo running through the middle!
— Daniel McLean (@DanielMcLean40) March 22, 2015
@GeelongCats it's got to be the Hawkins/Clark combo. They complement each other so well and will be a force to be reckoned with.
— Baethan Mullen (@baethan) March 22, 2015
@GeelongCats Tom Hawkins. It will always be Tom Hawkins.
— meg... (@mazzieMMMBOP92) March 22, 2015