Change of fortune overdue
Taylor, Cam Guthrie, Gary Ablett, Nakia Cockatoo, Scott Selwood and Mitch Duncan already this season.
It’s the nature of the beast and Cats coach Chris Scott has admitted that over the years.
Yet here we are at Round 4 and the stakes couldn’t be any higher. If the Cats slip up they will go to 1-3 with a trip to South Australia to play Port Adelaide on the horizon.
Oh, then there’s clashes against top four aspirants Sydney and GWS Giants after that.
That’s when the doomsayers come out. That’s when you start looking at a 1-6 record and start to fear the worst.
Win and the ship starts to right itself and you can afford another slip up along the way.
St Kilda coach Alan Richardson finds himself in a similar situation to Scott. His team has been underwhelming in its first three games, slipping to 1-2 as well.
The Saints have been smashed in the media after disappointing performances in their losses to North Melbourne and Adelaide.
St Kilda hasn’t won at GMHBA Stadium since 1999. What better way to get your season back on track than coming down the highway and heading home with four points?
A little slice of luck would be handy on Sunday.
“We don’t want to go 1-3. It puts you behind the eight ball,” St Kilda’s assistant coach Adam Kingsley said.
“It’s a big game. But having said that, win or lose, it’s not the end of the season, there’s still plenty of footy to be played and anything is possible.
“But you want to keep your nose in front of the win-loss ledger and right now we are behind it.”
The Saints have struggled in front of goal, failing to make the most of opportunities.
Geelong is the opposite. The Cats have leaked defensive 50 entries to their opposition, but have been lethal when the ball has finally made it into their own scoring end.
“I think their defenders do a pretty good job of hanging in there,” Kingsley said.
“They concede a lot of entries . . . opposition are getting plenty of good looks but their defenders are standing up.
“Obviously that’s been an area of the ground we haven’t been in good form in. We will need to lift to maximise our opportunities.”
Some of the issues stem TV from midfield. Scott Selwood admitted earlier this week that the engine room needed to work harder defensively.
However, the Cats’ midfielders are having an impact offensively.
“Their midfield is having a significant influence on their scoring,” Kingsley said.
“Their midfield is clearly one of the best in the league, if RADIO IN OUT NEW MILESTONE not the best. We’re not going to get an easy game, we’re certainly very mindful of that.”
Kingsley said he expected GMHBA Stadium to be rocking for Geelong’s first home game of 2018.
He said it was up to the Saints to take the heat out of the game early.
“Putting the Cats under some scoreboard pressure early would be nice for us to do,” he said. “There will be a lot of support for the Cats, so I think the Geelong players will get a little bit from that.
“Having said that, if we can get off to a good start and quiet the crowd down a little bit and build some confidence and belief in our game plan and the way we are finishing, then anything is possible.”