PACE IS NOT ACE IN DECK
SLICK ATTACK A HEADACHE FOR HARDWICK
GEELONG coach Chris Scott has denied he has implored his players to move the ball more quickly in recent weeks but his Richmond counterpart Damien Hardwick is wary of a slicker Cat attack.
As the clubs announced unchanged teams for the grand final, Hardwick said Geelong’s fast-paced style of play had not gone unnoticed.
After its loss to Port Adelaide in the qualifying final, Geelong has moved the ball with more speed fortnight.
In those two finals, it has registered 52 shots at goal, the most in back-to-back games this season.
The Cats have upped the ante, with their play-on percentage during the season and including the first final of 23.6 improved to 35.4.
The freewheeling play exposed cracks in Richmond’s defence in Round 17 when Geelong booted three goals in the final term to stay in the match, something Hardwick has been looking at this week. in the past
“We had a look at that part of the game and the play-on from marks was a little bit increased,” he said.
“We go back and do look at (that game), obviously the last quarter was of interest to us where they did score some goals quite heavily and what that did look like.”
But Scott denied quicker ball movement had been part of the plan that saw the Cats win through to Saturday night’s grand final.
“I don’t want to dig too deep into the strategy and the assessment of the strategy, (but) that hasn’t been our observation,” he said. “Sometimes the stats can be a little misleading but I think there is a common misconception that the teams that move the ball really fast into their forward lines are the best teams.”
Cats utility Mark Blicavs said this week there had been a noted change within the camp this season to play on instinct and look to attack.
Following his team’s preliminary final win against the Brisbane Lions, Scott said the key to defeating Richmond was to score.
Much conjecture in Queensland this week has surrounded the weather for Saturday night, with showers expected during the afternoon and evening in Brisbane.
Should the heavens open up, Scott said the Cats would have to adjust their style.
“It would change the way we play against anyone but it would be the same for the opposition as well,” he said.
“I have given up forecasting the weather, I have made too many mistakes year after year. It has become a bit of an injoke within our coaching team.
“My experience is it’s either going to rain all night or it will come and go quickly.”