The loss to Melbourne was galling, especially given the way it took the gloss of Corey Enright's milestone match, but there are always positives lurking in every game that the Mighty Cats play ...
1. THE GUARD OF HONOUR FOR BORIS
Sure, it was very disappointing for Corey Enright's 300th game to finish in a 24-point loss to Melbourne (the Cats' first loss to the Demons since 2006), but the evening at Simonds Stadium finished in classy fashion. Not only did Enright's Geelong teammates form a guard of honour as Andrew Mackie and Tom Lonergan chaired the five-time All Australian from the field, but the Melbourne players joined in as well. It was a very impressive gesture from the Demons to run over to the Geelong race and clap Enright as he left the field, although, to be fair, the Dees were in a rather good mood at that stage.
Watch Mathew Stokes' post-game interview with CatsTV
Watch Tom Lonergan's post-game interview with CatsTV
2. JOEL SELWOOD'S RUNNING GOAL
The Cats' skipper had a frustrating evening against the Demons, struggling to shake the tight tag placed on him by Jack Viney. But Selwood breathed a bit of life into his flagging team midway through the last quarter when he won a centre clearance, then bolted forward. He ran to 55m out before unloading a giant drop punt, which bounced through for a goal. It was team-lifting effort, but in the end it was not enough.
Watch Selwood's goal
3. BLICAVS' TACKLING
The mobile big man, who had to play in the ruck in the absence of the injured Rhys Stanley, did everything he could to lift his team on Sunday evening. He finished the game with 22 disposals (at 77 per cent efficiency), 25 hit-outs, six clearances and a goal-assist. However, it was perhaps his tackling that was the highlight of his performance. Blicavs laid 13 bone-jarring tackles, which took his tally to 25 tackles in two games. Blicavs is a sure-thing to be leading Geelong's best and fairest at the moment.
4. BIG CROWD FOR #BORIS300
Simonds Stadium looked a picture for the first bounce on Sunday, and a key reason for that was the number of bums on seats. The final attendance was 28,007, which made it the largest crowd at the venue since 32,458 packed in there for the qualifying final against Fremantle in 2013. It was the largest home and away crowd at Simonds Stadium since 28,459 were there to see the Cats defeat the Sydney Swans in round 22, 2013.
5. BILLIE SMEDTS AND DAWSON SIMPSON GETTING BACK ON THE PARK
Smedts, who had been out with a broken collarbone, and Simpson, who has been battling a shoulder problem, returned to the field via the VFL on Saturday. And both made telling contributions to the Cats' solid win over Coburg. Simpson did his bit in the middle of the park by winning plenty of hit-outs, while Smedts was used in a variety of roles and distributed the ball well. Both players will be aiming to return to the AFL side sometime after the bye (both the VFL and AFL teams have byes next weekend).
Read Angus Kramer's VFL match report
