All Eyes On... Cameron Cover

The noise the faithful usually make as they pour out of GMHBA Stadium after a win was distinctly different last Friday night. 

It was more of a subdued murmur as Jeremy Cameron’s injury hung heavy in the air, despite the 41-point win over Essendon. 

Cameron eased fears somewhat after he spoke to the media on Thursday, but there is now a Dart-sized hole in the forward line for the foreseeable future. 

In news that won’t surprise anyone, the Cats are simply better when Jezza is in the side, and the stats back it up: #1 for % of effective i50s and #3 for scoring overall vs. #14 and 12th respectively when he doesn’t play.

Enter Esava Ratagolea. Saturday is promising a rare burst of winter sun in Melbourne, and considering the opponent, there’ll be real value in a big forward that likes to jump at the footy.

All Eyes On… Hendo & Sammy

We covered in depth the journeys of both Lachie Henderson and Sam Menegola earlier in the week on geelongcats.com.au here and here, to their respective milestones. 

While 100 and 200 games are extraordinary achievements on their own, the paths that each of them has taken to get there have been anything but ordinary. 

In his press conference on Thursday, Chris Scott paid each of them the highest of compliments. While they’ve both been great for the club on the field, it’s what they’ve brought off the field that should be acknowledged. 

“It’s not just their on-field performance but they’ve had a real impact on the way we go about things,” he said. 

“Sometimes we can overplay the fact that we’re trying to build a good culture that people want to be a part of and underplay the role that people coming in have on building that culture.”

Go well, gents.

All Eyes On… The Best Show in Town

The Cats have won just two of the last eight quarters since stringing six straight wins together between rounds 8 and 14, and the slow starts against both Brisbane and Essendon have been a talking point. 

But dig a bit deeper and after quarter time at the Gabba, there’s was just 14 points separating the two sides, and the second term demolition of the Bombers would have struck fear into the hearts of opposition fans across the land. 

That's the Cats at their devastating best. Think the 13 goals to two after halftime against Richmond in Round 8, and 19 goals to 2 after quarter-time against West Coast in Round 6.

The best sides have gears, but when the foot goes down at the Cattery, boy does it go down. Here’s hoping for a bit more of that on Saturday. 

All Eyes On… Milestone Man Part II

There was a third player that Chris Scott was referring to when he spoke of club milestones on Thursday, and that was Zach Tuohy. It’s not a conventional milestone, but it’s well worth acknowledging in any case, and there are two parts to it.

On Saturday, Reg will run out for his 100th game in the hoops, which probably won’t be a surprise to many Cats fans because since crossing from the Blues back in 2016 he’s become part of the furniture at GMHBA Stadium. But not only has he been an enormous asset on the field but as a member of the leadership group, he’s made just as valuable an impact in the sheds from the moment he walked in the door.

It’s also particularly fitting that it’s against his old mob, Carlton because he’ll become just the 52nd player in VFL/AFL history to play 100 games for two different clubs.