Geelong’s VFL side has comfortably defeated Collingwood at Simonds Stadium on Saturday, claiming an easy victory 16.7 (103) to Collingwood’s 9.9 (63).

Geelong burst out of the blocks in the warm and sunny conditions, piling on six goals to two in an impressive first quarter. Josh Walker and Steve Johnson didn’t seem to have missed a beat from last year kicking two goals each by quarter time. The Cats held the Magpies to two majors in the first term following some wayward kicking from the visitors and a strong defensive effort from the Cats.

The second quarter followed a similar pattern to the first with the Cats kicking five goals to two on the back of strong quarters from the likes of Josh Cowan and Hamish McIntosh. Young rookie Michael Luxford also showed promising signs registering a few shots on goal and setting up a few more including Johnson’s third goal of the game. The Cats went into the main break with a 41-point advantage.

The third quarter was a much tighter affair with Collingwood able to reduce the Cats’ lead to 33 points by the final break. New VFL recruit Ryan Williams was the standout for the Cats with 12 disposals for the term while Steve Johnson limped off with a corked thigh midway through the quarter.

The Cats ran away 40-point victors with a strong final term in Paul Hood’s first official game as VFL coach. Johnson did not take part in any more of the match after his injury but Hood confirmed it was just precautionary.

“He’s just got a corky of the thigh, so I’m not too worried about it at all, he got plenty of what he needed out of the game in the first two and a half quarters.

“There was no need to risk any further contact on it and we saw how hard he was cracking in so he was probably going to get a hit on it again if he kept going,” Hood said.

The coach was full of praise for Johnson, who was one of the Cats’ best in his time on the ground with 22 disposals, seven clearances and three goals.

“I thought he was terrific, the way he attacked the contest, his ball use and leadership throughout the day was all you could have asked for with Stevie playing in the VFL,” Hood said.

Ryan Williams was the standout performer for the Cats with 30 touches, five tackles, eight clearances and five inside-50s in a best afield performance. Josh Cowan also put in a solid performance with 17 disposals off half back.

Ruckman Hamish McIntosh was also among the Cats’ best, recording 29 hitouts along with 17 disposals, nine clearances and two important goals. Hood was quick to praise McIntosh on his performance.

“Hamish worked hard and you never know when the guys have their first run, they’re hoping their conditioning stands up,

“As the game went on, I actually thought he started to move better and better, which is really good. You see how smart he is with some of those marks inside 50 and his positioning. I’m sure it was great for some of our young midfielders to play with him,” Hood said.

McIntosh’s rucking partner for the day, Padraig Lucey, had a moment to remember, kicking his first goal in the blue and white hoops late in the final term. Hood believes the big Irishman has a lot to offer the Cats and has a lot of potential for a man who hasn’t played a whole lot of AFL footy.

“He can find the ball a bit in attack with his Gaelic background, he’s played as a forward in Gaelic footy. He knows how to lead and present and find a dangerous space, it’s just him getting conditioned and used to it happening for 100 minutes of AFL.

“I thought he had a really good day, his ruck work too was quite good at times and helped us go forward, so a good one overall,” Hood said.

Overall the game was full of positives and was a great opportunity to consolidate some of the work the players have done over the preseason whilst getting some match simulation against a quality opposition.

“The first practice game is a long time coming, four or five months since we started training. You generally see the guys pretty up and about for the first one. The good thing for us is not only were they passionate but they were able to play to our system as well.

“It is great for the players to get a bit of a reward for what is always a hard preseason,” Hood said.

Geelong’s VFL side will look to maintain their winning form against Richmond VFL at Simonds Stadium next week. 

VFL Practice Match – Bendigo Bank Cats 16.7 (103) def. Collingwood VFL 9.9 (63)

Goals: Johnson 3, Walker, Luxford, Close, McIntosh 2, Read, Farrelly, Lucey, Herbison, Rees

Best: Williams, Cowan, Gore, McIntosh, Johnson, Luxford, Tudor

Reports: Nil @ Simonds Stadium