The Cats battled hard all game but couldn’t gain the ascendancy. Here’s what we learnt from Thursday night thanks to Deakin.

Two down, too much

Last week, after losing Mitch Duncan and Quinton Narkle to first quarter hamstring injuries, the Cats managed to produce an inspired, undermanned performance to overcome Brisbane. This week, the loss of skipper Joel Selwood and line-breaking youngster Jordan Clark in the first and second quarters respectively was too much for the Cats to defy in the pursuit of victory. To the Cats credit, they were able to turn the tables on the Magpies midfield after Collingwood capitalised on the loss of Selwood to take an early dominance in contested possession and clearances. But it felt all night the loss of two players was going to be too much for the Cats to be down, especially after the effort required in last week’s performance.

Gutsy Guthrie

Cam Guthrie is continuing to put together an impressively consistent season for the Cats. Playing more inside midfield minutes has seen Guthrie rise to the occasion providing a sure head across the centre of the ground for the Cats. Guthrie’s ability to push to space to become a target has become an important part of the Cats methodical movement of the ball forward. On Thursday night, Guthrie registered 28 disposals, eight clearances, seven marks and a goal to be one of the Cats best players. With the return of Joel Selwood and Mitch Duncan unconfirmed, expect to see Guthrie continue to spend big minutes in the midfield for the Cats.

Blitzed again

After last week staking his claim against Harris Andrews for the game’s best defender, Mark Blicavs again put in an incredible defensive effort for the Cats on Thursday night. Matched up against the Pies most dangerous forward in Brody Mihocek, Blicavs was able to shutdown his opponent and also provide drive from the backline. Mihocek finished with just seven disposals and zero goals whilst Blicavs had nine disposals, four intercepts and 11 pressure acts in the defensive half.

Whistles out in Perth

The Cats first foray in front of a normal sized crowd for 2020 brought the question of noise of affirmation up again on social media and in the press. The largely Collingwood group roared along as the Pies racked up 22 free kicks to the Cats 10, three of which came in the last two minutes of the game. Worryingly for the Cats, of their 10 free kicks, three came from Collingwood kicking out on the full and one from a Jamie Elliot deliberate out of bounds. This meant the Cats were only able to rack up six free kicks from general play. A good indicator of free kicks can also be contested ball, and although the Pies had 20 more than the Cats, it wasn’t a particularly lopsided count. Cats coach Chris Scott was circumspect in his thoughts after the game.

“We’ve got the luxury of looking at the vision from all angles and making an assessment.” Scott said.

“The umpires are a bit like us in that they have not had much practice and it was the first time in front of a crowd, not that that should have made a difference, but if they were rusty, I think they’ve got an alibi.”