Five positives to come out of the weekend's AFL and VFL games ...
1. CATS ARE FAST STARTERS
During the opening stages of Sunday's clash with the Eagles, Fox Footy boundary rider David King alerted the views to the fact the Cats were +57 points in the first 10 minutes of games to that point of the season. And the trend continued in Perth, with the Cats kicking 1.1 to 0.1 in the opening 10 minutes. Of course, things went a tad awry from there, so the challenge for the coaching staff is to work out how to get the boys finishing games as strongly as they start them.
2. MORE PRESSURE
Last week we wrote about how Geelong had the greatest pressure differential in the competition after eight rounds. Well, the Cats turned the pressure gauge up another notch against the Eagles, finishing with 79 tackles to 55. Unfortunately, the strong pressure wasn't enough to get a decent result on the scoreboard.
Watch Chris Scott's post-match press conference
3. HAWKINS' HEROICS
West Coast's dominance in the middle of the park meant it was a tough day for Geelong's forwards. But Tom Hawkins stood tall. He kept presenting and kept clunking marks, even after his job was made much tougher when his sidekick, Mitch Clark, left the field with an ankle injury. Hawkins finished with three goals, which has taken his career tally to 299.
To watch CatsTV's post-match interview with Hawkins, click on the video player at the top of the page
4. CORY GREGSON'S GOAL
The little South Australian is the shortest bloke on Geelong's list, but he has a serious hoof on him. He proved that yet again by slotting a brilliant running goal from 52m out during the first quarter. Gregson's accurate kick capped off a superb passage of play, which began when Rhys Stanley laid a crunching bump on Andrew Gaff. From there, Cameron Guthrie hit Mitch Clark lace-out, then the big fella handballed to Gregson.
5. HORLO PUTS HIS HAND UP
The Cats' VFL team suffered another narrow loss, this time to Williamstown, but George Horlin-Smith pushed his case for a recall to the AFL side with an impressive performance. Horlin-Smith finished the game with 27 disposals, four tackles, seven clearances and a goal. Jarrad Jansen also continued his solid form. Jansen tallied 26 touches, eight tackles and seven clearances.
