O’Bree positive despite defeat

GEELONG VFL coach Shane O’Bree says there were plenty of positives to take out of yesterday’s practice match with Essendon, despite walking away with a 49-point loss.

It was the first competitive hitout for the Cats and the first opportunity to see how some of the senior-listed players would mix with new teammates.

“It was good to get our first game against real opposition out of the way,” O’Bree said.

“We had a fair few young guys playing their first VFL game and probably a dozen guys playing their first Geelong VFL game.

“It was good to get it out of the way and all of the things we’ve been trying during the pre-season, our structures and attack and defence, when it comes to the real stuff you’ve got to do it 10 seconds quicker than what you do at training, so it was good for the guys to realise that.”

Several of Geelong’s AFLlisted players saw game time, including Timm House, Ryan Gardner, Wylie Buzza, Jordan Murdoch and Jack Henry.

“I thought Jack Henry was really good, he was back, forward, back, forward, and just impacted in the air and on the ground, and his intensity all day was really good

“Jordan Murdoch, his mindset and leadership today shone through, and his impact around the contest, I thought he was really hard around the ball and won a lot of 50-50 contests for us.

“He looked dangerous when he got out and kicked a couple of goals.”