Cats ponder how to tame ‘little master’
THE Geelong coaching staff will “have to put a bit of time” into working out how to stop Suns superstar Gary Ablett on Saturday.
That’s the opinion of Geelong midfielder Mitch Duncan, who stopped short of declaring the Cats would deploy a tag on Ablett in the clash at Metricon Stadium.
“Honestly, I’m not sure,” Duncan said. “We haven’t spoken about it yet.”
Ablett had an astonishing 45 possessions in the Suns’ 13- point loss to North Melbourne last weekend and Duncan conceded that a stopper might not prevent Ablett from taking the game away from the Cats.
“You probably can’t (tag him), to be honest,” Duncan said.
“The little master ... he’s back in some good form and it’s just about that team ethos of winning the ball first and not allowing them to have the footy.”
The Cats will be mindful of
VSATURDAY, 7.25PM METRICON STADIUM, CARRARA the treatment applied to their skipper Joel Selwood, with Duncan admitting he and his teammates didn’t do enough to protect the ball-magnet.
“It’s a hard one because you’ve got to focus on your role but Joel just wants the other midfielders to win the ball, which will allow him to cause damage that way,” Duncan said.
“The argy bargy has gone out the window a little bit.
“Obviously we have to protect him the best we can, and it’s something we’ll try to improve on.”
Geelong go into the Gold Coast match smarting after Collingwood inflicted the Cats’ first loss of the season.
After a “thorough review” of the shock defeat, Duncan expects his teammates to be fired up.
“We didn’t play the way we wanted to and we’ve got to rectify it some way,” he said.
“This is the best time, sixday break, travelling together to play a good, young opposition.”
Scott Selwood is pushing for a recall to the Cats’ senior team after two solid matches in the VFL and could replace the injured Brandan Parfitt.