Now that your heart rate has returned to normal following the Cats’ dramatic 1-point victory over North Melbourne in round two, we can take a moment to reflect.
Cats Media identified four points of interest circling last week’s match up with the Roos. Here’s how they played out:
Every rucking week
The Cats won the clearances 38-35 and won centre clearances specifically by +6, but whether that was due to the work of Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs or in fact the midfielders at their feet is a different story.
The hit-outs came in at 21-54 in North Melbourne’s favour, causing Geelong senior coach Chris Scott to admit post-match his side had been “slaughtered in the hit-outs”.
“That’s two weeks in a row we haven’t got our hands to the ball, but it does show that you can still defend okay when you’re not getting your hands on the ball,” he told the media.
Rhys Stanley tallied 13 disposals, 14 hit-outs; Mark Blicavs had 17 disposals and seven hit-outs working through the midfield and ruck. Meanwhile, Zac Smith recorded 48 hit-outs and 25 disposals in Saturday’s VFL practice match against Williamstown.
Could Smith be more of a challenge to Melbourne’s Max Gawn this week? And if so, what does that mean for Stanley and Blicavs? The questions continue for another seven days at least.
Rhys Stanley and Mark Blicavs were again used in tandem last week against North Melbourne (AFL Photos)
Just on the ruck again
Newshounds were excited on through the weekend with reports North Melbourne’s Todd Goldstein had left training on crutches on Friday afternoon. The story was confirmed on Sunday when the ruckmen was withdrawn from the Roos’ side and replaced by the 206cm, 109kg Braydon Preuss.
As mentioned above, the combination of Preuss and the re-called Majak Daw dominated the ruck battle, though Geelong’s midfielders were able to mitigate the fallout once the ball hit the deck.
Braydon Preuss replaced Todd Goldstein for the Roos and had 46 hit-outs. (AFL Photos)
Wary without Waite
It was an even-spread for North Melbourne up forward. Key forward Ben Brown booted three goals, small forwards Lindsay Thomas and Kayne Turned kicked two each while midfielder Shaun Higgins also bagged two.
All up, the Roos had 12 individual goal kickers and the ease through which multiple opposition players were able to hit the scoreboard would have been cause for concern for Geelong.
Ben Brown kicked three goals for against Geelong in round two. (AFL Photos)
Those round two blues
Round two really has it in for the Cats, doesn’t it?
For all but the final minutes of the game, the second week of the season threatened to be a nightmare for Geelong for the third consecutive year.
Sure, they had to use a Get Out of Jail Free card to claim the narrow win, but when teams like Sydney and Hawthorn sit 0-2 and you’re on the opposite side of the ledger, we may not yet realise just how important Sunday’s four points will be down the stretch.
The Cats head into round three sitting at 2-0. (AFL Photos)
