Positive move forward
Gardner in attack changes Cats’ fortunes
GEELONG restored its VFL season with a comfortable 34-point win over Williamstown at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday as the Cats unveiled a new forward role for third-year defender Ryan Gardner.
James Parsons, Sam Simpson and Lincoln McCarthy were among the Cats’ best players as their winloss record improved to 4-3.
“All the themes we went in with during the week we implemented really well,” coach Shane O’Bree said of the 9.17 (71) to 5.7 (37) win.
“Around the contest and clearances, that was always going to be the battle against Willy — they’re very good at it and have a lot of experienced players there.
“Pure stats, they might have beaten us there, but I thought we battled away hard and kept trying to change things up as a midfield group and probably wore them down in the end.”
However, one revelation out of the game came from Gardner, who was thrown to full-forward after a quiet six weeks in defence.
O’Bree said it was a club decision to try out the 20-year-old in attack.
“He thinks he’s Tony Lockett now, but he was really good,” O’Bree said. “He hasn’t trained there a hell of a lot, he’s played there a couple of times last year.
“Just his attitude, he embraced it. He played with enthusiasm, he enjoyed it and he looked influential when we went forward. He created a contest and went after it again so full credit to ‘Gards’ for the way he handled it.”
While the stats sheet read 13 touches, seven marks and a goal, O’Bree said his ability to bring the ball to ground was a real positive.
“It’s similar to a few of our boys, we’ve had to throw them around because opportunities haven’t come in their preferred positions,” he said. “We’ve got to try these things and see what these players can give us. He’s not the only one; we’ve tried it with ‘Blacky’ (Aaron Black), he’s played a fair bit down back for us this year.
“Where Gards is at, we don’t want to come to the stage where we haven’t tried multiple positions with him and given him a real crack at it, so I’m really pleased with the way he took it on board.”
In other stats: Zac Smith had 13 touches, four marks and 17 hitouts, but Ryan Abbott was the pick of the Cats’ ruckmen with 19 disposals, five marks and 21 hitouts.
Gryan Miers had just seven disposals, but applied high pressure and kicked two goals. Looked dangerous with 19 disposals, 14 of them kicks. He had a team-high seven inside50s and used the ball well and also kicked one goal. “He was buzzing around — he’s very explosive, Linc,” O’Bree said. “It’s just another game under his belt. Who knows if he gets an AFL game this week or in coming weeks, but he’s building nicely. He can still finish off his work a little more, but he’s working on that side of his game.” Just the 16 touches and five marks, mostly running off a wing or halfback flank. Quiet game by his standards. “Thurls was on the outside a lot, but I thought he fixed us up and played our structures well,” O’Bree said. A team-high 10 marks in defence, highlighting his ability to structure well and read the ball from opposition kicks. “I thought Zachy was really solid down back,” O’Bree said. “He plays the structures really well and was better one-on-one this week than last week, so that was pleasing. He’s still got to work on that side of his game.”