Leading the ins for the week was Cats 2010 number one draft pick Billie Smedts tallying up sixteen touches in a consistent four quarter effort, as well as father son pick Jed Bews who slammed home a miracle goal from just inside 50, wrong footed and on the boundary in the dying minutes.
The Cats also welcomed back Jaxson Barham from hamstring injury, Barham wasting no time getting into the swing of it picking up nine disposals in a first quarter frenzy. Andrew Banjanin, Ryley Hall and Jack Hollmer rounded out the ins, with Hollmer beating his striking charge from round 5 after the not guilty verdict was handed down last week.
The Cats lead the Bombers at every change, only losing the third quarter by two points in an undisciplined thirty minutes of football. Despite giving away 17 free kicks to 5 in the third, the Cats managed to hold off the hard charging Bombers taking a 28 point lead into the final change with the lead sliming to three goals at its nadir.
With Captain Troy Selwood sucumbing to a back strain halfway through the match it came down to Mark Corrigan- the smiling assassin, to provide the grunt in the stoppages. Corrigan was relentless for the Cats earning every one of his 29 disposals, laying 11 tackles, winning 11 clearances and going 5 times inside 50.
Cats coach Matthew Knights was happy with this weeks return to form.
“We played pretty consistently over the four quarters” he said post match.
“We had a really big week focusing on doing the basics and the fundamentals really well, with our gamestyle whether that be in defence or in attack, and also making sure we were a little more competitive around the stoppages”.
“Credit to the players to be able to finish the game strong, with players down and in heavy conditions”
Across the board it was a tightly contested game, with many key indicators even stevens. The Cats however did manage to control the hitouts 73-37, thanks in no small part to a massive performance from Dawson Simpson (43 H.O.) and Andrew Banjanin (28 H.O.), but Geelong also managed to make better use of it in attack and convert more effectively than the Bombers.
“I thought Dawsons contested marking was probably the best feature of his game” appraised Knights.
“Secondly I thought that for the majority of the day, once he took the contested marks, he made really good decisions with the ball in his hands. Thirdly I thought his ruckcraft was quite strong all day, and he got to play 50-60% in the ruck but also another 30% in the forward line, and thats great for Dawsons development as well”.
The close nature of the footy played by both sides was evident with over three hundred contested possessions registered between both sides, with the split between the down the middle.
“Our contested footy is something that was important for us during the week going into the game, we wanted to establish that early” said Knights.
“I thought we played team footy in the sense that we were happy to share the workload amongst the 23 players and everyone took their turn to win the contest and stoppages”.
“We had a lot of players go through the midfield which generated a lot of drive, and we just gelled better as a team than the last two weeks”.
Talking Points:
Dawson Simpson:
Yet another standout performance, Simpson completely dominated the ruck contests yet again. The 206cm tap specialist is pressing hard for selection despite the fact that the Cats big man stocks are in good shape at the moment between Blicavs, West and Vardy firing on all cylinders. His 43 hitouts for the day surpases earlier performances against Werribee: 32 and Collingwood: 37 by a big margin. Dawsons efforts at ground level, and in the contest around the ground were second to none against Essendon. In combination with Banjanin this is one powerful ruck duo.
The Cats midfield:
They had their work cut out for them against the likes of Nick and Zac O’Brien, Ben Duscher and Elliot Kavanagh- but where more than up to the task. With Selsy off at Half Time you would be forgiven for worrying about the midfield battle, but it was well covered by Corrigan (29 disp), Raidme (23 disp) and Stringer (20 disp). Corrigan had it on a string all day and provided thrust out of the middle with his 11 clearances. Stringer too was a workhorse cracking out of the stoppages on no less than six occasions and dipping in for two goals.
Daring Defenders:
Slippery conditions and the efforts of those sneaky Bombers getting loose over our press made our defenders work hard for the win, but the boys took everything that came their way and provided a solid platform for the Cats to rebound into attack from. Eardley (8), Bathie (6) and Condy (5) were the main rebound springboards off our defensive fifty, and Matthew Sully was a rock against a potent Essendon forward line led by Joe Daniher. Murdoch was quieter than usual, but when he was at it he worked his play with a level of precision and poise that can be mesmerising. Condy went on a mission into attack in the final term snagging two well earned goals. Condy and Sully are shaping to be quite a team in defence and seem to be gelling well this year. Once you add the rebound potential of Murdoch and Eardley, and you have an A grade defensive structure right there.
Next week the Cats take on the 7th placed Northern Blues at Simonds Stadium, 1 pm Sunday the 9th of June.
Geelong 18-18-126 def Essendon 13-10-88.
Goals: Barham, Walker 3, Condy, Kersten, Stringer 2, Smedts, Bews, Banjanin, Raidme, Herbison.
Best: Corrigan, Simpson, Smedts, Barham, Stringer, Eardley, Condy, Bews.
Injuries: Selwood (back)
@ Windy Hill
