HOLIDAYS OVER AS CATS STRUGGLE
IT almost felt like a holiday.
Seven days in the sun, a change of routine, a flight home, hopefully with the four points in the bag, and a top-two spot effectively locked away.
But Saturday’s 34-point mauling at the hands of a youthful Fremantle turned Geelong’s Perth getaway from an opportunity to recharge into an episode of Banged Up Abroad.
Like a foreigner in a thirdworld prison, the Cats were alert early before being beaten to a pulp by a ferocious Dockers outfit in front of a hostile crowd at Optus Stadium.
The Dockers won the most important stat — the scoreboard. But they also dominated almost every single other one, too, winning 40 more possessions, laying 16 more tackles and getting the ball inside-50 15 more times.
This was a Dockers side full of players who are hardly household names, a side with a makeshift forward line, but a side that was committed to the fight.
Despite entering the match as the worst pressure team in the competition, the Dockers finished with a pressure factor of 206, well above their season average of 177 and an AFLwide average of 186.
Geelong coach Chris Scott might deem it as “cheap analysis” but it is easy to see why Cats fans took to social media on Saturday night slamming the club for what they saw as a seven-day vacation in sunny Western Australia.
Geelong has collected a lot of brownie points over the course of the season, thanks largely to its 11-1 start that rocketed the club into premiership favouritism.
But its run since the bye — three wins, four losses (all to bottom eight sides) — means the Cats simply have to be put under the microscope.
The goodwill they have built is slowly disintegrating.
Saturday’s loss was not good enough. The coaches know it. The players know it.
They now have three weeks to get themselves out of this rut because a repeat of what the Cats served up in Saturday’s loss will result in a straight-sets finals exit — home final or no home final.
The second half would be of most concern for Geelong.
The Cats did not look like they were in holiday mode early when Tom Hawkins bagged three goals to help Geelong out to a 15-point quarter-time lead.
But the Dockers were persistent. They should have been closer at the first break if not for some inaccurate kicking.
They managed to find a bit more mojo in that second term.
Trailing by 15 points with 14 minutes remaining in the second quarter, Fremantle kicked goals through Bailey Banfield, Mitch Crowden and Sean Darcy to take a three-point lead into the main break.
It was from that moment on that the game was turned on its head.
Tim Kelly kicked the first goal of the third term to hand Geelong back the lead and when Gary Rohan kicked truly only two minutes later, the Cats looked like they had restored order.
Esava Ratugolea then missed a good opportunity soon after, leaving the door open for the Dockers to swing the game their way again.
And they did it with brute force, kicking the next seven goals of the contest to completely ice the game.
Cam Guthrie’s goal 21 minutes into the final term was his team’s first since Rohan’s major in the five-minute mark of the third term.
But the party had already started for the Dockers fans, who watched their team finish the final term plus-33 in disposals, plus-seven in contested possessions, plus-nine in inside-50s and plus-31 in uncontested possessions.
Kelly finished with 25 touches, gained 402m with his run and booted a goal, while Tom Stewart had 24 possessions. Mitch Duncan was next best with 23, but continues to be down on his usual silky output.
Hawkins bagged three goals for the Cats, but was barely seen after quarter-time such was Fremantle’s dominance and Geelong’s inability to generate many meaningful forward-50 entries. Mark Blicavs was clean in defence and shifted into the ruck in the final quarter, finishing the match as one of Geelong’s best.