We can still beat the best: Duncan
GEELONG midfielder Mitch Duncan says last night’s performance shows the Cats can match it with the best, despite falling three points short at the MCG.
In similar circumstances to a fortnight earlier when Zach Tuohy kicked a goal after the siren to seal a comeback win over Melbourne in Geelong, the Cats stormed back against the Tigers to give themselves a chance to hit the front.
Champion Gary Ablett had a shot on the run with less than two minutes to play but sprayed it to the right, before the Tigers held on for a 12.13 (85) to 12.10 (82) victory.
“I thought it was home, but he’ll get another shot,” Duncan said of the Ablett miss.
“It’s coming down to taking your chances a lot this time of the year.
“We knew they were a good finishing side too. We’re always confident we can run out games well — I think we’re ranked second — so we knew if we kept cracking in and attacking the goals we’d give ourselves a chance.
“We got a crack, had a chance to do it and fell a little bit short, but I think the group is still very confident with how we’re playing and what we need to do to play our best footy.”
While the symmetry between last night and the win over Melbourne was evident, Duncan said his side was still learning to find the line between taking the game on and holding up a defensive fort.
“There might be chances to (take the game on more), but then again you don’t want to get scored against either,” he said.
“It’s a fine balance and we’re working on that at the moment.
“You always learn every time you play a good side and good sides at the moment are able to win.
“I feel like we can match them, but we’ve still got a lot of work to do as well.”
With Geelong in eighth position, Duncan said his teammates wouldn’t look past a defining match against Hawthorn next Saturday.
“It will be a tough challenge again,” he said.
“You love playing them. You love the rivalry, love playing big games this time to the year.
“We’ve just got to keep winning now. We can’t be looking too far ahead.”