Geelong opened their 2023 VFL campaign in style, defeating Carlton by 16 points at Ikon Park on Friday night.

Full of new faces, AFL-listed experience and with a new coach at the helm, the Cats put on a clinical performance against the 2022 Semi-finalists to claim an important early season win.

The Cats were challenged by Carlton in the last quarter, who kicked three goals in ten minutes to cut the margin to single-figures. But Geelong held firm in the final minutes of the game, with Ollie Dempsey slamming the door shut with the last goal of the contest.

CATS v BLUES Full match coverage and stats

Coach, Mark Corrigan put on a coaching masterclass with his tactics continually shining through, as the Cats kept Carlton at bay for the majority of the night.

Corrigan was pleased with his side’s ability to start strong.

“I think our contest early was really strong, off the back of some good looks from Ceglar. Our ability to capitalise early on and put on some scoreboard pressure, put us in a position to withstand their momentum in the back end,” Corrigan said.

The Cats ran rampant in the first quarter, piling on the opening five goals of the game to race out to a 32-point lead.

Geelong’s defensive press was damaging early, locking the football into their offensive half for large portions of the opening term. The Cats were able to shut down every attempted exit by the Blues, forcing numerous turnovers which resulted in repeat inside 50’s for the visiting side.

Corrigan said this was a key focus for the Cats, right across the pre-season.

“We were quite happy with the amount of ball inside forward fifty in pre-season games, we just didn’t convert as much as we would have liked,” he said.

So for us going into tonight, it was certainly a focus around when we do go forward, we get up the ground and takeaway potential outlets and forcing turnovers.”

The Cats recorded 13 of the first 15 inside 50’s in the opening 20 minutes, keeping Carlton scoreless in the same stretch.

Geelong were then able to wrestle back momentum in the second quarter, after three straight goals from Carlton.

Corrigan said winning back the momentum was built of the team’s ability to do the basics well.

“The key was connection across the group,” he said.

Knowing there is going to be momentum swings across a game of football, so for us it’s about being able to do the fundamentals well to arrest the momentum, and get some time back in our front half.”

Carlton laid down the challenge in the second half, but Geelong continued to find answers to any questions the Blues could pose.

The Cats booted four goals in the third quarter to maintain the lead, before holding strong in the final quarter to seal victory.

Some of Geelong’s more experienced players stood up throughout the night, leading the Cats to victory.

Brandon Parfitt racked up 23 disposals and a number of clearances, often looking a class above the Carlton midfield. Shannon Neale was also impressive tallying 15 disposals and eight marks, whilst adding an important goal late in the third quarter.

Mitch Knevitt, Sam Simpson and Jon Ceglar were all important through patches of the game, while Ollie Dempsey and Ted Clohesy finished off impressive nights with three goals apiece.

Jhye Clark was impressive on debut, looking silky and composed in traffic when he had the ball. Clark also added a classy left foot goal, in an impressive first outing in the hoops.

Jye Chalcraft picked up where he left off in 2022, leading all players with 30 disposals and a goal.

It was an impressive performance right across the ground, as Geelong kicked off their season in the best possible fashion.

Geelong will now travel to the Sunshine State next week, to face Gold Coast on Sunday at Heritage Bank Stadium.

VFL Round 1

GEELONG        5.4      7.8        11.10     12.13    (85)
CARLTON        2.2      4.4         7.8         10.9     (69)

GOALS: Clohesy, Dempsey 3, Simpson, Chalcraft, Clark, Feely, Lewis, Neale 1
DISPOSALS: Chalcraft 30, Parfitt 23, Benson 19

@ Ikon Park