Cats look for ways to stop slump
It’s Retro Round and the Cats will be hoping to turn back the clock to produce some vintage form, otherwise their season could soon be history.
OLD SCHOOL
IT is not often the focus of the football world turns so sharply to the team at the top of the ladder, but after four losses in seven games to teams outside the eight that is exactly the position Geelong found itself in this week.
Some hard questions were asked, answers were given, there were myriad reasons put forward as to how, where and why things have broken down but at the end of it all, the Cats still sit on top of the table.
Deep down though Geelong coach Chris Scott knows things can’t stay the same.
Scott has said several times he would like the Cats to be performing better, but having a desire to play well is one thing, ensuring the right decisions are made to give yourself the best chance of doing that is another.
Four changes at the selection table is generally an indication some tweaks will be made — and the speed of the players coming into the team is no coincidence — but with different areas of Geelong’s game needing some, albeit minor, adjustments, figuring out where to start will have been a key talking point throughout the week.
If training at GMHBA Stadium is anything to go by, expect Geelong to be far harder to beat when it comes to contested ball.
Track watchers on Wednesday reported there was a level of intensity normally reserved for when the prying eyes have departed, but it is the cornerstone of their game, and as Scott said, all the planning in the world regarding ball movement won’t count for much if you can’t win the footy.
“There are different parts of the game, and they all link together, but it is very difficult to say let’s just attack a bit faster if you’re not winning the ball and getting some clean looks from the contest,” Scott said.
“So it is hard to work out … which one is the priority, and there are parts of our game that have been a little bit down but we fully expected throughout the season that we would have some ebbs and flows in our form and in our execution.
“Maybe we are in a bit of a situation there but it is not as though we have lost four in a row. We are far from panicking around the way we are going and we have a high level of confidence that we can find our best football and that best football competes pretty well with anyone.
“But that isn’t to say we don’t have things to work on, because we do.”
The contested ball situation is clearly the key to so much of what the Cats do, but it won’t have been the only focus ahead of the clash with North Melbourne.
Forward cohesion, stoppage work and transition will have been touched on, and while it remains to be seen whether Geelong will look all that different on Saturday night to what it has in recent weeks, Scott remains confident not a lot needs to be done to get things back on track for his team.
“It is impossible to absolutely get it right because it is just so multifaceted,” Scott said.
“So it could be as simple as a few of our key players who have led the way in that area are a little bit down, and their form can turn around pretty quickly. It could be a little bit of a method thing, which we think we can adjust with the way we train and the things we prioritise going into games, so there are a whole range of factors that go into it.
“But again, we are pretty confident in our system and we have got no intention in turning around the way we play at this stage of the season, we would just like to execute a little bit better.
“It is not going perfectly but with three games to go we feel as if we have got ourselves into a pretty good position, which was the plan at the start of the year.”
THE CONTESTED BALL SITUATION IS CLEARLY THE KEY TO SO MUCH OF WHAT THE CATS DO, BUT IT WON’T HAVE BEEN THE ONLY FOCUS AHEAD OF THE CLASH WITH NORTH MELBOURNE.