MAKING SENSE OF SLOW, FLAT CATS
LET’S try to make sense of what is going wrong with the Cats right now.
The high-scoring, fastmoving, ruthlessly efficient side that dominated before the bye has been replaced by a low-scoring, stagnant and wobbling outfit.
But as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, I do not have any grave fears for Geelong’s season — yet. The Cats are still in the perfect position to contend for the flag, they just need to get through this period.
Here are a few things I think are contributing to Geelong’s 2-3 record over the past five games. It is common for clubs to go through a “mini pre-season” block of training in June-July to ensure their players are peaking by finals.
The short-term effect of this, clearly, is looking lethargic and flat on game day.
While I don’t think the Cats have completely flogged their players like they would in December, there is definitely an element of heavy training.
The best time to do that is when you are two games clear on top of the ladder.
While you never want to flirt with your form, the reality is you can drop a few games now and still be in a really strong, top-two position.
The lack of zip, the lack of run, the lack of dare the Cats showed in Sunday’s loss to Hawthorn was, in my view, down to the training they have done. With back-to-back interstate games, I would imagine they would be tapering now. Sometimes, the worst thing about being so far in front so early in the season is that other clubs go to school really heavily on you.
Geelong has been on top of the ladder since the end of Round 2.
Hawthorn took away the Cats’ speed on Sunday and stunned Geelong with its own quick game. The Hawks went down the corridor, which I think might have taken a few by surprise.
But that’s what Alastair Clarkson does — he gets his team playing a style that takes away the opposition’s strengths.
Hawthorn players were set up brilliantly behind the ball. They stood in front of the Geelong talls. So when the Cats looked up they just had nowhere to go, which could also explain the boring ball movement and lack of dare.
The good thing for the Cats is they now have a month until finals to analyse what clubs are doing to them. They have time to make subtle changes to their own game, time to throw up something a bit different.
After all, you’d rather be figured out in Round 15-19 and have time to adjust rather than Round 23 heading into finals.
So I think it’s all setting up nicely for Geelong, still. Geelong was wonderfully efficient earlier and scored plenty of goals from its limited forward 50 entries.
But the worry in recent weeks for the Cats is they have also lost their golden touch in front of the big sticks.
Geelong kicked only 56, 55 and 61 in its three recent losses, in games marred by its inaccuracy. In the past four weeks, the Cats have gone 14.12, 7.13, 12.12 and 8.13. When Geelong blitzed the Western Bulldogs in Round 9, it kicked 21.7. When it beat Richmond in Round 12 it went at 16.8.
What the Cats would do for that conversion now.