The Cats clawed their way to a well-deserved win against the Werribee Tigers and in doing so they redeemed themselves after the drawbacks of previous losses.
Geelong sealed the 9.6 (60) to 5.17 (47) victory with a strong last quarter on Saturday, following a tough contest played in very wet and slippery conditions at Avalon Airport Oval.
Despite a determined effort from the Cats, the Tigers settled into the lead at the end of the first quarter. Debutant Lewis Antonac opened the game with a goal for the Cats, followed by Mitch Knevitt and Oliver Dempsey.
The second quarter was a low-scoring term however the Cats managed to scratch their way back into a leading position. Will Christie joined the goalkickers, and Lewis Antonac pushed the Cats’ back in front.
In a closely-contested second half, the Cats battled hard against the Tigers up until the final siren. Tom Feely and Hamish Lucas kicked goals in the third quarter, followed by goals from Harry Benson and Osca Riccardi in the fourth, bringing the Cats to an exciting finish.
Geelong Cats VFL Senior Coach Mark Corrigan described that the Cats’ achievement this week as a result of the team’s structured defence and drive across the field.
“We stripped it back a bit this week to make sure we were focussing in on what we could control within the game, and so for us that was structurally getting the game the way we wanted it to look, being really stable behind the ball and hard to score against,” he said.
“I thought whilst Werribee had the dominance from a forward half game and inside 50, we defended really grimly and in the end it was potentially the difference.
“Their ability to fight the game out in the last quarter and still find a way to win and score made me incredibly proud of them, and probably more so the response off the back of the last couple of weeks and not playing to the level we would like.
“I thought today was absolutely outstanding and hopefully a sort of platform for us moving forward.
“The message post-game was just more about how proud I was of the group against a really strong team, with losing a few players throughout the game and being down to one on the bench.”
The standout players across this game were Mitch Knevitt, with one goal and 18 disposals, alongside Daniel Capiron and the Damian Drum medal-winner Jye Chalcraft, with 28 disposals.
“Really pleasingly, it was really hard to separate a lot because of the contribution from everyone across the board,” Corrigan said.
“But in terms of the guys I thought were really significant, Mitch Nevitt was absolutely outstanding for us with his incredible work rate and his impact on the game in the air and on ground.
“Jye Chalcraft kept fighting the fight around the ball. Daniel Capiron, our vice-captain, was steady down back. Generally speaking, there were not too many passengers today which was great to see.”
Corrigan identified this week set the bar for the Cats for the remainder of the season.
“Hopefully the boys take huge belief out of this sort of win – with their backs to the wall a little bit – and then we’ll just keep working on certain areas of the game, about how we move the ball out of our back half so that we’re not up against repeat entries and time in the forward half as much as we did today,” he said.
“From a structural mindset connection standpoint, I thought that was the level for us and hopefully the boys take great confidence moving forward.
“(I am) incredibly proud of their effort and their ability to fight it out, which shows great character amongst the group.”
The Cats have a bye next weekend, before facing the Coburg Lions at Piranha Park in Round 6.
VFL Round 4
WERRIBEE 3.4 4.7 5.12 5.17 (47)
GEELONG 3.1 5.2 7.4 9.6 (60)
GOALS
Geelong: Lewis Antonac 2, Will Christie, Osca Riccardi, Hamish Lucas, Mitch Knevitt, Tom Feely, Ollie Dempsey, Harry Benson
Werribee: Nick Hayes 2, Joshua Porter, Matthew Keast, Harrison Grintell
