PORT’S PLAN FOR STAR CATS
Port midfield has Patty, Joel in its sights
GEELONG will look to replicate the game plan it successfully implemented against St Kilda when it takes on fifth-placed Port Adelaide on Saturday night.
The narrow confines of the Adelaide Oval almost mirror those at GMHBA Stadium. It makes the task of shutting down the Power’s ability to penetrate their attacking-50 far easier than on the wider expanses of the MCG, where the Cats gave up 126 inside-50s in the first two games of the season.
Adelaide Oval measures 123 metres from wing to wing, just eight metres wider than GMHBA Stadium, which clearly suits the Cats and helps their backmen work more cohesively both in defence and further up the ground where they can cut off opposition forward thrusts.
As Geelong looks to gain its third win of the year, emerging backman Jack Henry said the importance of the defensive group staying connected could not be understated.
“I think we’ll just have to play the same way, and that might entail a little extra work rate, but we’ll keep trying to play the same way and stay connected as a group down back and get the mids coming back to help as well,” Henry said.
“It was good to play down here in front of our home crowd and get a bit of confi- dence and that team chemistry, which we might have been lacking being all pretty new in the first few games, but we want to play the same way every week.
“It didn’t quite jell early but now it’s starting to jell, so it doesn’t really matter who we are playing (or where), we want to play the same way and if we do then it will make it very hard for the opposition to score and get inside-50s.”
Henry, 19, has notched three consecutive games and is looking settled in defence alongside Jake Kolodjashnij, Tom Stewart, Zach Tuohy, Jed Bews, Zach Guthrie and Mark Blicavs. He showed against St Kilda he is more than capable of holding down a key post if and when Chris Scott requires him to do so.
“With my height and my athletic ability I find I can play on tall or small players, and knowing your opponent and knowing how to play on them makes you feel more comfortable,” he said.
“I obviously didn’t get the opportunity in the first game with concussion, but I feel more comfortable each week and it definitely helps with how the group is going as well and how I am fitting within that.
“I feel very comfortable speaking up and talking to more experienced guys and just constantly trying to talk and help each other out, which is probably what we did lack in the past game or two.”