SUNDAY ROAST
NEW Cat Mitch Clark booted back-to-back goals in the final term to inspire a late fightback against the Gold Coast Suns in sweltering conditions in Townsville yesterday. But it wasn’t enough, with the Cats going down by eight points in their opening NAB C
MITCH Clark spent the first quarter searching for the footy, the next two quarters running under it but was almost the match-winner as Gold Coast pipped Geelong in Townsville last night.
Clark’s first match in almost two years went to script — obvious rust but with time his class will return and provide the Cats with a reliable second forward option.
The former Melbourne and Brisbane Lions forward put the Cats in the lead in the last quarter with back-to-back goals, the second coming when he barged through traffic.
But Gold Coast, even without a number of frontline players, hit back to clinch an eightpoint win after Brandon Matera wove through a freakish soccer kick.
There was no tougher return to footy for Clark than the stifling Townsville afternoon heat, greasy conditions and lung-busting humidity at Tony Ireland Stadium.
He hardly saw the footy in the first quarter, made a meal of his first attempt in the second when he dropped the mark and snapped the footy out on the full, but worked into the game in the third quarter to play a key role in debutant Cory Gregson’s first goal.
His two goals in the final quarter — one from a mark and one from general play — would have given him confidence, especially his second, which was celebrated by a jubilant fist pump.
If you were to sum his game up you’d say his judgment in the air was off — several passes slipped through his fingers — but at least he made good position and finished strongly.
As far as pre-season games go, this one went to script: haphazard skills, a zest of endeavour from draftees who floated in and out of the game, all mixed in with the ever-reliable class of seasoned veterans.
Geelong promised more midfield time for James Kelly and Jimmy Bartel — and that’s where the triple-premiership champions spent most of the game, with a burst up forward.
The Cats were again reliant on their old brigade, with Bartel, Kelly and Mathew Stokes doing the lion’s share of the grunt work around the ground.
Bartel finished with 26 possessions, Steven Motlop 22, Harry Taylor 22 and Mitch Duncan 20. The next best were Kelly, Stokes, Josh Caddy, Cam Guthrie and Corey Enright, the familiar names.
Guthrie added one to the highlights reel in the third quarter when he spun through traffic and kicked a goal to keep Geelong’s pulse beating in a game where the Suns led at every change.
Taylor and Enright were the calming influences in defence, especially in a oneway second quarter when the Suns dominated the clearances, smashed the Cats around the contest and kept feeding their forwards with inside 50s.
Geelong arrested the Suns’ midfield domination after half time, with second-year midfielder Darcy Lang putting his hand up for regular game time this season, kicking two goals and looking particularly lively.
The draftees showed a bit. First-round pick Nakia Cocka- too, who played only one match last season, injected some run, Gregson showed a combination of dash and hardness and Dean Gore started well but hardly saw it after quarter-time.
Padraig Lucey, who would otherwise be at home shivering through an Irish winter, had a tough induction, his only major contribution to the match being a ruck infringement that led to a Suns goal.
Tom Hawkins, who is said to be fitter again this season, started prominently, grabbed a couple of good contested marks and worked hard up the ground.
Stoppage work is again a work in progress for Geelong. The Cats were among the worst in the competition last season for clearances and yesterday it remained a point of concern, especially in a onesided second quarter.
It prompted captain Joel Selwood to voice his frustrations from the couch 2600km away on Twitter.
“Smashed around stoppages and contest that quarter. Ball use in these conditions are extremely tough but still missing targets we should hit,” Selwood said.
Zac Smith controlled the ruck with 28 hitouts, with the Cats rolling Dawson Simpson (15 hitouts), Mark Blicavs (three), Lucey (five) and briefly Clark through the position.