The Cats were disappointing in their 46-point loss to the Swans at Simonds Stadium on Friday night.

Cats Media identified three points of interest to follow throughout the match. Here’s how they played out:

In case you missed it

In the absence of Patrick Dangerfield and with Joel Selwood on as good as one leg, a certain few stood up but overall, the Cats were beaten horribly around the contest by Sydney.

Mitch Duncan accumulated 32 disposals, three clearances and six tackles to be Geelong’s best, joined by Scott Selwood (26 disposals, eight clearances, 13 tackles) and Sam Menegola (25 disposals, four clearances, seven tackles), while the Cats actually won the clearances +10, contested possessions +2 and inside 50’s +1. 

Senior coach Chris Scott considered those numbers an anomaly, given the one-sided 46-point result.

"They won one-on-one contests and we didn't win anywhere near enough and even when we did we missed the shots," Scott said post-match.

"It wasn't our young inexperienced guys that let us down. Some of our more experienced players had a bad night.”

That game

History repeated itself in what is now becoming a trend for Geelong against Sydney.

Despite some nine different players from the Cats’ 37-point loss in last year’s preliminary final, the Swans again got the jump on the home side to hold a 32-point lead at quarter time and were never headed, running out 46-point victors.

Wrap ‘em up

The best tackling side in the competition lost the count 83-84.

There we some big individual numbers for the Cats, such as Scott Selwood’s 13 and Sam Menegola’s seven, but overall the effort and endeavour needed to be better across the board.

Scott Selwood fought hard against the Swans and lead the tackle count with 13. (Photos: AFL Photos)