All Eyes On... The Highway
It won’t be lost on Cats fans of a certain vintage that this Friday night will mark the first time the Bombers have come to town for premiership points since August 21, 1993.
It was a good day for the Cats, that one. A big final term saw the home side run away with it by 32 points on the back of 29 touches and three goals from Gary Hocking.
To give you a sense of just how long ago that was - if you were driving to the ground that day it was likely in a Ford Falcon, there’s a good chance you would have heard the UB40’s Can’t Help Falling in Love With You on the radio, which was the number one song in the country at the time, and you may have spent the evening at the movies watching Harrison Ford’s The Fugitive, which was in the middle of a three week run atop the national Box Office.
If that’s not enough, in the time since we’ve seen six different prime ministers, five US presidents, three popes and the City of Greater Geelong has had 14 different mayors. And the iPhone you’re probably reading this on was still 15 years away.
You get the picture.
All Eyes On… Baby Bombers 2.0
1993 was a frustrating year for Cats fans for what could have been. If only the top 6 was a top 8.. anyway. For Essendon fans, it was a different story as the Dons saluted on Grand Final day on the strength of a side that became known as the Baby Bombers. 28 years later, we could be witnessing the rise of the Baby Bombers 2.0.
We saw signs of it back in March when we took them on during the pre-season. They were fast, they used the ball well and they got within seven points of a much-fancied Geelong outfit.
A bit like that '93 team, they’re building a nice mix of rising stars (Cox, Parrish, Ridley), prime players (Merrett, Stringer, McDonald-Tipungwuti), and established veterans (Heppell, Hooker), and after a big win in Perth over West Coast a month ago and a close loss to the top of the table Demons last week, you can expect they’ll be heading our way looking for a scalp.
SUPPORT COUNTRY VIC WITH THE FOOD PURVEYOR
All Eyes On… The Bounce Back
What they’ll find when they get here is a Cats team that has been counting down the days until they can make amends for last week’s 44-point loss to the Lions.
It was an out of character performance from Chris Scott’s men, and with virtually a full squad to choose from, the boys will be primed.
On top of that, it’s a rare occasion these Cats turn in two bad ones in a row, in fact, you have to go back to August 2018 for the last time the club lost two on the trot in a season – by 3 to the Tigers and then by 11 to the Hawk back in round’s 21 & 22. For what it’s worth, we won the next two by a combined 235 points.
And if the boys are looking for any further motivation, Tom Atkins plays game number 50 this weekend.
All Eyes On… Country Festival
The Powercor Country Festival is back for the sixth year running and this year, in particular, is a great opportunity to come down to GMHBA Stadium to celebrate our regional communities and all they contribute to our country.
Festivities kick off at 4 pm and best of all you don't need a ticket to the game and it’s FREE.
So if you like live music, sheep shearing, petting zoos, and sausage sizzles, Kardinia Park is the place to be on Friday afternoon.
On top of that, the Cats will take on the Dons in a VFL curtain raiser from 4:10 pm, so grab the family or some mates and come down for a bit of country inspired fun.
