With just four games left to play in the home-and-away season Geelong’s VFLW team will look to continue their strong form, after recording seven wins, two losses and one draw to sit in fourth sport on the ladder and in the hunt to qualify for their first finals series.

The Cats had a strong start to their season, with five wins and one draw in their opening six matches. The round two draw was against Collingwood, who are currently undefeated on top of the ladder, proving that the Cats have what it takes to match the top sides.

Round four and round five thrillers against Carlton and Melbourne University demonstrated Geelong’s composure. Both games saw the Cats trailing at three quarter time, but proved to be the stronger side in the dying stages of the game.

Consecutive losses to the Western Bulldogs and Northern Territory Thunder in rounds eight and nine put a halt to the Cats’ impressive run. Playing the Thunder in Darwin proved to be especially difficult for Geelong, with injuries and the humid conditions contributing to the tough result.

The Cats bounced back from these losses in commanding form, recording two of their biggest wins of the season against the Southern Saints and Casey Demons in their previous two matches.

Key forward Kate Darby is leading the Cats’ goal kicking with 12 for the season, to sit in fourth spot in the overall VFLW leading goalkickers. Fellow AFLW recruit Danielle Orr has booted nine goals this year to trail Darby. Richelle Cranston is leading the competition in inside-50s, in what has been a dominate season in the blue and white hoops.

There has been a mix of age and experience playing for the Cats this year. Alisha Habib, who recently announced her retirement from football after playing in the opening four rounds, has been Geelong’s oldest player at 36 years old. Meanwhile, young guns Tarryn Love and Georgia Clarke are among the TAC Cup players who have debuted for the Cats this year, in the transition from Under 18 football.

Geelong VFLW coach Paul Hood is impressed with the continued development of his team.

“I think we’re growing as a team really well, and in these last six rounds we’ve been able to stabilise the team a little bit which is helping,” he said.

“You can see now the forwards have got a bit more of a connection together, the midfielders are knowing where to look and our defenders are working together as a unit and then rebounding the ball well.

“It’s now a team syncing with each other better, that’s been the biggest improvement in the last couple of weeks. I’m looking forward to seeing that growth in the final month of the year.”

Cats skipper Bec Goring said that she’s happy with the way that the team has bonded.

“I think that the best part of playing in this group is the diversity that we’ve got, and that’s on and off the field,” she said.

“We’ve got a lot of strengths, got a lot of speed and a lot of players that are strong around the footy and I think that’s what’s so special about this group.

“We care a lot for each other off the field and I think that translates well on to the field as well.”

With just the top four sides qualifying for finals and the Cats currently in fourth spot, excitement is building around a potential finals birth but Goring is adamant that the team will remain focused.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time, that old cliché,” she said.

“Just trying to play our structures well each week, resting up with the bye this week to get some fresh legs and then hopefully finishing strong in the tail end of the season.”

The Cats currently sit in fourth spot on the ladder, six points clear of the next two sides. With just one game separating the top four sides of Collingwood, NT Thunder, Hawthorn and Geelong, the final month of the VFLW home-and-away season is set to be packed with excitement.