Stepping into the cauldron that is Adelaide Oval is never an easy task, but it is one that Geelong were able to conquer in 2019 when they took on the Crows. 

The Cats headed to the city of churches in round three of the 2019 season, taking over a team that included a number of fresh faces, with four players featuring in just their third AFL game. 

Among that group was a young Tom Atkins and an even younger Gryan Miers, who were both establishing their position in the team at the start of their football journey.

Atkins booted the opening goal of the game, which was also the first goal of his AFL career, the on-baller caught up with Cats Media during the week to reminisce on his memories of the match.  

07:00

Time Cat-Sule | Miers Brilliance Locks In Huge Away Victory

Ahead of our clash against Adelaide, Tom Atkins takes a look back to classic clash where young another young star Gryan Miers, kicked 3 goals including the sealer to sink the Crows in Adelaide.

"I remember it was really close, I didn't touch the ball much and I think I only had six touches," Atkins said.

"Obviously I kicked that goal, it was probably my one and only contested mark in my career.

"I remember it being a really good win, I think it was my first interstate game as well."

Geelong dominated the opening half of the contest, skipping out to a 23 point lead at the main break, but a flurry of goals from Adelaide in the third quarter left the game in the balance at three quarter time. 

The Cats wrestled back the momentum in the final term, booting four goals to secure a brilliant 24 point win. One big player for Geelong that night was Gryan Miers, who booted three goals and collected 11 disposals in an instrumental performance. 

"I always knew that Gryan had great vision and great kicking skills, that was probably the first time he was able to show it in an AFL game," Atkins said. 

"From there he just improved each year, now he is a superstar." 

00:33

Miers Magic

A crafty pair of goals by Cats rookie Gryan Miers.

Despite being a tough venue to win at, Geelong have been reasonably successful in recent history winning five of their last six games at Adelaide Oval. 

Atkins provided insight into how the ground suits the Cats game style, while also previewing a big Thursday night blockbuster ahead this week. 

"It is a great place to play," Atkins said. 

"I think we are always prepped well to play there, we have always been told by our coaches that we need to try and generate your own momentum. The crowd is almost certainly going to be against you and quite loud, if we can try and pump ourselves up internally then hopefully we will play well and get the win.

"They are playing well, we just need to keep dialling in what our game looks like when we are going well. We have been able to do it briefly, across a quarter here or there in each game.

"If we can try and get that going for the whole game, I think there will be a lot of teams that struggle to go with us. Looking forward to the challenge ahead."

ROUND 3 2019 – Adelaide v Geelong @ Adelaide Oval

GEELONG       6.2     8.8      10.9     14.15    (99)
ADELAIDE      3.6     4.9      9.12     10.15    (75)

GOALS: Miers 3, Hawkins, Rohan 2, Ablett, Atkins, Clark, Constable, Dangerfield, Menegola, Taylor 1

DISPOSALS: Dangerfield 32, Kelly 24, Constable, Menegola Stewart 23, Blicavs, Duncan 22

BROWNLOW VOTES: Patrick Dangerfield (3), Brad Crouch (2), Tom Stewart (1)  

GEELONG STARTING 20
1. Rhys Stanley
3. Brandan Parfitt
4. Gary Ablett Jr
6. Jordan Clark
7. Harry Taylor
8. Jake Kolodjashnij
11. Tim Kelly
14. Joel Selwood
17. Esava Ratugolea
18. Charlie Constable
22. Mitch Duncan
23. Gary Rohan
25. Lachie Henderson
26. Tom Hawkins
27. Sam Menegola
30. Tom Atkins
32. Gryan Miers
35. Patrick Dangerfield
40. Luke Dahlhaus
42. Mark O'Connor
44. Tom Stewart
46. Mark Blicavs