1. Motlop marvels
By his own admission, Geelong's Steven Motlop turned up to pre-season overweight. The Cats were disappointed with his lack of discipline but set him targets to meet with his skinfold testing, as part of his regular meetings with the club's dietician. Over the last few weeks, after a substandard start to the year, that hard work over pre-season has come to fruition. Motlop has that energy and creativity back in his game and it was on show on Saturday night as he nailed three goals from 14 touches in the opening half. The speedster finished the game full of running and was clearly one of the Cats' best players. Motlop ended the night with 26 disposals and seven inside 50s, but most importantly the gut running and chasing to pressure is there in his game.
2. Kolodjashnij brothers square off
In a VFL game early this year, Collingwood draftee Ben Crocker kicked a goal and went up and barrelled his older brother Sam, who was playing for Port Melbourne, over in a friendly but aggressive fashion. There wasn't the same sort of antics when Gold Coast's Kade Kolodjashnij and Geelong's Jake Kolodjashnij locked horns at Simonds Stadium. Mostly for the fact the twin brothers were at opposite ends of the grounds. However, that did not take away from the special moment for parents Sharon and Paul. Kade was the Suns' best player with 19 disposals and a bunch of intercept marks, while Jake did his job for the Cats down back.
3. The right move for Smith
Twelve months ago Zac Smith was not even entertaining a move from Gold Coast. But he decided a change of environment was needed after he fell behind Tom Nicholls in the pecking order at the Suns. Fast forward to 2016 and Nicholls is plying his trade in the NEAFL, after being dropped, and Smith is the starting ruckman for Geelong. The athletic ruckman has made an impressive start to his career at the Cattery. Smith was not a huge factor in Geelong's easy win but the left foot snap he delivered in the third quarter, after a clean groundball pick up emphasised the versatility of the Cats' ruck stocks in 2016.
4. A former idol meets the town's new hero
Gold Coast skipper Gary Ablett's return to Geelong was met with little fanfare. After all, Cats fans have a new hero now and he wears the No.35. The dual premiership Cat had only played at Simonds Stadium once prior to Saturday night, in 2013, since defecting to the Suns at the end of 2010. The champion midfielder received close attention from Mark Blicavs for much of the night, but battled on and was one of Gold Coast's best on a dirty night for the Suns. Dangerfield, on the other hand, was best afield with another outstanding display. The star recruit had 30 disposals (16 contested), seven inside 50s and two goals.
Former teammates Gary Ablett and Joel Selwood lock horns at Simonds Stadium. Picture: AFL Media
5. Giving the umpires a Rocket pays off
Rodney Eade has been in the coaching caper for a long time so when he put on the agenda that Tom Lynch got a raw deal from the umpires against North Melbourne last week, the Suns key forward was always going to be in the forefront of the umpires' minds. The star Gold Coast forward received two free kicks for holding off the ball against Tom Lonergan in the first term, kicking two goals from those opportunities. It was clearly a masterstroke from the experienced Suns coach, who knew exactly what he was doing when he made the call to the AFL during the week.
