Will groggy Joel be ready for Giants?
THE Cats’ thrilling win against Fremantle came at cost with skipper Joel Selwood now in a race to be ready for Geelong’s match against GWS. Selwood was knocked out just a minute into the game after a sickening head clash with Freo’s Hayden Ballantyne.
IF yesterday’s defeat of Fremantle proved anything, it is that sometimes you don’t have to be at your best for an entire match to win. Sometimes. It is rare for it to happen against opposition of the highest quality, and Geelong would not wish to be as poor in certain areas of its game this Saturday against GWS.
But in a season as tight as this one, every win is like gold.
Perhaps, as Andrew Mackie said post-match, this is the victory that will propel the Cats forward in the back end of the year.
“We won’t have our head in the sand, there is obviously some work to do, but . . . I’m pretty proud of the way the boys came back and won the game,” Mackie said.
“We walk away with four points and that could be really big for our season.”
It was as courageous as you could see under the circumstances — captain out for the whole game, one player on the bench for the last quarter-and-a-half, 19 points down and next to no momentum all day.
Yes, there are key parts of Geelong’s game that need addressing.
Rhys Stanley was beaten in the ruck for most of the day by Fremantle debutant Sean Darcy and will be under pressure to maintain his spot this week.
Shane Mumford is a similar body shape to Darcy, only stronger, and it is difficult to imagine Zac Smith not being on the plane to Sydney.
It was also Tom Hawkins’ first match in 23 days and it looked like it.
Both Hawkins and Stanley did some good things in the last quarter, which was encouraging for the Cats.
The Giants, though, present a much tougher challenge to Geelong than the one it was confronted with at Simonds Stadium.
But the Dockers threw everything at the home team so despite that, the result will clearly stay in the minds of this group.
Jed Bews, who spent the majority of his afternoon on the dangerous Hayden Ballantyne, echoed Mackie’s sentiments about where the win ranks with the players.
“It’s one of the best wins I’ve been a part of, ever . . . we’re very proud of each other,” Bews said.
“Having three down is tough and I know I didn’t get off in the last quarter and I was feeling it — 90 per cent of the boys would have been feeling it, it was tough out there.”
James Parsons showed why the club was so keen on giving him a contract extension, as did Sam Menegola for parts of the game, and Dan Menzel proved a difficult match up all day.
Steven Motlop was better, if a little inconsistent, and Mark Blicavs was solid, if a little poor by foot on occasions, in his return game.
Outside of a select group of Mitch Duncan, Patrick Dangerfield and Zach Tuohy and his defensive group, there were not many players who were ‘on’ all day.
But sometimes you don’t have to be at your best for an entire match to win.
Sometimes.