Win the only upside of
TEN minutes into Saturday night’s clash between Geelong and Carlton you could have been forgiven for thinking the Cats had employed a scriptwriter to look after proceedings as the two sides had their first hitout at Kardinia Park since 1997.
It all started so well, with debutant Jamaine Jones registering a goal with his first kick in league football.
Every single Geelong player on the ground went to Jones to congratulate him, and there was a sense the Cats were on.
Moments later, returning champion Gary Ablett — in his first match at home in the blue and white hoops since Round 22, 2010 — kicked Geelong’s second.
Milestone man Jordan Murdoch was next to join the party, putting through a goal on the run in game number 100, and by the time journeyman Stewart Crameri kicked the fourth of the night the match looked to be heading in a very ugly direction for the Blues.
Instead, it just got ugly full stop. Emerging forward Esava Ratugolea was taken from the field in the second quarter with a suspected broken ankle and the dash and energy the Cats had displayed just 30 minutes earlier came to a halt.
If the players had been inspired by Jones, they were clearly left flattened seeing Ratugolea laying in agony on the turf as doctors tended to him. LACHIE YOUNG’S VOTES
Geelong coach Chris Scott conceded as much after the game, saying it was human nature for the 20-year-old’s teammates to be adversely affected.
“The wind was knocked out of my sails a bit, I’ve got to admit,” Scott said.
“It will have an impact long term as well. Serious injuries to young players are just about the worst thing you can imagine in the game. But I’ve said this before — and I’m sick of saying it, to be frank — we have got a great history of supporting young players that have serious injuries and I’m really confident that we will do that again and we will help him find a way back because he is a rare talent.”
Ratugolea’s injury started a period of play Geelong will reflect on as some of its most disappointing football this season, including last week’s loss to Essendon.
Carlton registered the first 12 inside-50s of the second term and only the combination of the fearless nature of the Cats defence and the wayward kicking of the Blues stopped Brendon Bolton’s men from reducing the 11-point quarter-time margin.
Things did not improve greatly after half time, either, with the stop-start nature of the game, ill discipline and poor execution of skills from both sides making for an unpleasant spectacle.
Geelong held sway in the last term as Carlton rallied but was far from convincing for most of the night against a side it was fancied to take care of relatively comfortably.
Earning the four points despite a second straight subpar performance was one of the few positives for the Cats, although the continued development of Jack Henry was a highlight and the emergence of Aaron Black as an AFL-level defender in the absence of Harry Taylor should reinforce Scott’s confidence about his club’s depth. Despite having little else to revel in, in a season that is looming as being fiercely competitive for spots within the eight, he will gladly take the four points and look to next week’s match against Gold Coast.
“I don’t think we played particularly well,” Scott said.
“I thought the game as a spectacle, it was one of the rare occasions where I can actually make comment on that because I don’t really notice it so much, but I thought it was a horrible game … I suspect in review we will be pleased to take the win and move on from that one.”