CATS SPURRED ON BY LETDOWNS

GEELONG midfielder Scott Selwood says he and his teammates will use the disappointment of recent close losses to Richmond and Hawthorn to drive them in the last two weeks of the home-and-away season.

The Cats have now been involved in five games decided by two goals or less since the bye, losing three and sending them from fifth to ninth in seven weeks.

Selwood says the knowledge they can play better than what they have been is what has left the Geelong players most frustrated, but he remains confident they have what it takes to turn things around.

“It is disappointing because we have got so much belief in this group,” Selwood said.

“You know we want to do it and you know we are trying to do it and we’ve got utter faith in everyone, so when you fall short constantly against good sides like the last couple of weeks who you feel you can beat, you get disappointed in that.

“Sometimes you like to let that (disappointment) sink in and let it drive you and motivate you and sometimes it is hard to look your teammate in the eye, but we’re a club that moves on pretty quickly and looks at ways to get better.

“We used last week to drive this week and we will use it again to try to play better footy and become better players out of it, so that is the most important thing.”

Selwood was one of Geelong’s better players on Saturday, keeping Hawthorn ball magnet Tom Mitchell quiet in the opening half before switching roles and moving on to a wing.

Mitchell, who had previously had four straight games where he registered more than 40 disposals, was kept to 12 possessions in the first two quarters and finished on 32 as the Cats changed tact after the main break.

It had been touted all week as a duel that would shape the outcome of the contest and Selwood said it was an intriguing battle.

“I’d never played on him before so doing research on him this week, I knew he was having a really good year, but I didn’t realise how well he was going,” he said.

“He moved around a lot, created a lot of two-on-ones and asked a lot of questions of us which was beneficial to them because I thought he opened up a lot of space for them at times.

“Going into the second half we decided to make a change and do something different and put more on-ballers through there so I went back to a wing and got to him when I could. He probably had more of an impact but I thought we were able to get our game going a bit more.”

Geelong must now prepare for its clash with Fremantle this week and Selwood said there was zero chance the Cats would be taking the Dockers lightly.

“(This week) will be about narrowing our focus on Freo,” he said. “It is a cliche but we just can’t look past even the first quarter against Freo. We really respect them and know that they are a quality side when they are playing really well.

“They pushed us when we were at home last year so we have got to be ready to go and if we put our best foot forward we will see what comes up.”