OPPONENT: Essendon
VENUE: Etihad Stadium
DATE AND TIME: Saturday, June 6, 7.20pm AEST
WEATHER FORECAST (not that it matters, as the roof will be closed): cloudy, 17 degrees
Check out the Cats’ selected side here
FIVE THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR:
1. A MILESTONE FOR MURDOCH
Saturday night's clash with Essendon will be Jordan Murdoch's 50th game for the Cats. The 23-year-old, who made his debut in 2012, has been among the club's improvers this year. He was best on ground against Carlton in round nine, when he tallied 26 disposals and four goals, but he will be keen to atone for a quiet performance in the big loss to West Coast last weekend.
Watch Jordan Murdoch's press conference to mark his 50th game
2. A BETTER SECOND HALF
As our Cat Stats column discussed earlier this week, Geelong has been one of the best first quarter teams in the competition. But the Cats have been one of the worst performers after half-time. So it's time for the boys to put all that training they did over the summer to good use and run out a game strongly.
Cat Stats: Fast starters, slow finishers
Watch Chris Scott talk about the Cats' issues in Tweet The Coach
3. TOMAHAWK TOPPING THE TRIPLE TON
The big forward should reach a milestone of his own against the Bombers, given he heads into the game on 299 career goals. Hawkins has averaged 1.94 goals per game over the duration of his career to date. He was among the Cats' best players in the big loss to the Eagles last weekend, finishing the game with 11 disposals, seven marks and three goals.
4. A DRAW?
To the end of the 2014 season, Geelong had the lowest percentage of matches ending in draws (0.9 per cent) of all the clubs that commenced in the VFL in 1897. In contrast, Essendon had the highest percentage of games ending in draws (1.48 per cent).
That random stat was courtesy of Rogers Results
5. AND HERE ARE A FEW FROM OUR FANS (sheesh, they've come off the long run this week) …
@Adam_McNicol @GeelongCats run run run out of the middle & Josh Walker to have an absolute cracker!!!
— Jennyb (@Brim63) June 4, 2015
@Adam_McNicol @GeelongCats A line drawn in the sand . Play some daring hard nosed contested footy . A new star needs to emerge .
— Aaron Booth (@azareidies) June 4, 2015
@Adam_McNicol win 4 quarters; clever delivery into Fwd line; friendly lip at Chappy 0 goals from JoeD @GeelongCats
— Cam McK (@CreatednotEvlvd) June 4, 2015
@Adam_McNicol @GeelongCats Someone other than Joel getting the ball out of the middle
— Scott (@Scottland2007) June 4, 2015
@Adam_McNicol @GeelongCats I'll tell you what I don't want to see, Matty Stokes starting on the bench!!!
— Ash Hill (@AshHill81) June 4, 2015