FIRE EARLY

Premiership legend says Cats must ...

STARTING well and testing the mettle of Richmond’s younger players on Friday night will be the key to Geelong’s chances of advancing to a preliminary final, club champion Paul Chapman says.

The Cats have lost six first quarters from nine matches against top eight teams this season, winning two.

In those games they averaged 16.8 and conceded 26.4 points in the opening terms, giving up leads of three goals or more on five occasions.

Chapman said if Geelong could gain an early lead it had the potential to put the Tigers under the pump and allow the Cats to play proactive football.

“Obviously the start is a big one, and even though Geelong is a lot younger team than what it used to be, they have still got that finals experience over Richmond, so I think a fast start would test Richmond out and see what they’re about mentally,” he said.

“Getting off to a good start is probably the biggest thing they can control and then testing Richmond to see how they go in big games, I mean finals football is totally different.

“The speed and intensity steps up so they need to bring that to them early.”

Cats midfielder Patrick Dangerfield spoke this week of the need for his team to improve its poor starts, with the seven goals to nothing start in last year’s preliminary final still fresh in his mind.

Chapman said the way the Cats played against GWS in Round 23 sent a statement to the competition, and added they would again have to play the role of the hunters against Richmond on Friday night and not become the hunted in front of 90,000 people at the MCG.

“The back six is really good but Geelong’s forward line and their midfield will have to bring a heap of pressure to help out the defence,” he said.

“It’s about taking the ball off Richmond before they get a chance to take it inside their forward 50, because their forward line players have been very good this year in keeping the ball in and wanting to tackle and doing all of those one percenters.

“So if Geelong can limit their entries, then you start dictating things anyway and their forwards won’t be able to do that.

“There were three weeks where they (the Cats) had no tackles and I think they learnt a lot from that.

“Scott Selwood was brought in and he has been a tackling machine, but it’s going to be a cracking game of footy.”