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Coach sees the positives in defeat at hand of Tigers
Geelong's VFL side wasbeaten by Richmond on Saturday night, but the Cats at least have a few players ready to come in after the disappointing AFL loss to West Coast.
GEELONG VFL coach Shane O’Bree is remaining positive despite yet another big defeat, this time to Richmond by 49 points at Punt Rd on Saturday night.
The Cats have won just one of their past five games, with the four losses each by 42 points or greater.
After going goal for goal with the Tigers early, Richmond pegged away to lead by 21 points at the first change.
At no stage did the visitors regain the lead, despite gaining momentum in the third stanza to turn a 32-point half-time deficit into 15 points.
But O’Bree lamented his side’s execution with turnovers “deflating” the side, as Richmond punished Geelong to eventually prevail 18.18 (126) to 12.5 (77).
“Even the last quarter when we kicked the first one, I saw the boys with a bit different belief today where they knew they can take the Tigers on and beat them,” O’Bree said.
“Just our execution was deflating at times and whether it’s skill errors, decision making, composure, we’ve just got to keep teaching the young guys the methods.
“Our efficiency with the ball, centre of forward, we turned it over in some dangerous parts of the ground. We want to be daring but there are times to be daring and times to be a bit safer and be more direct.
“They got us on the rebound, we got opened up on the turnovers too much. They scored unbelievable amount of scores from turnovers, nearly all their scores.”
Tom Ruggles suffered a shoulder injury in the first term and was sent to hospital, leaving the side thin on experience in its back half.
Ben Reid took up the slack and performed admirably, but the weight of numbers proved too great.
Richmond won the inside-50 count 62-40, but more importantly had 19 marks inside 50 to Geelong’s six.
O’Bree said his side’s 11th spot on the ladder, three wins from eight games, was a fair reflection on the campaign so far.
“It’s probably where we’re at the moment,” he said.
“(I’m) looking forward to seeing how we go against teams around the same as us. Richmond tonight was on about the same position as us on the ladder.
“There are a lot of similarities to last year. We’ve got a younger, newer group we’re building, a lot of guys that have come back from injury still building as well. Just hoping it clicks a bit quicker.”
George Horlin-Smith racked up the touches, finishing with 38 to go with seven tackles, 11 clearances and two goals, while Jordan Cunico put his hand up for a recall with 28 disposals, four clearances and a classy goal.
Jackson Thurlow was also busy with 26 touches and five clearances as a midfielder and Sam Dobson kicked three goals in the opening quarter and a half in his VFL return.
“Thurlow is definitely working on his game, the finishing touches he needs to make the most of his opportunities, his work rate tonight was pretty good,” O’Bree said.
“‘Dobbo’ came into the team, kicked a few goals and looked lively. He looked like he wanted the contest when we needed one.
“‘Horlo’ was really good around the stoppages and with his contested work, he tried hard all night, does what ‘Horlo’ does well.
“Jordan took the game on. Once he understood we needed him to take the game on, he wanted the ball and pressured around the contest, he showed us what he’s got with his assets.”