CATS CRUSHED
Straight-sets exit looms as Tigers squash Geelong Outclassed and outgunned, the Cats have a Herculean task ahead of them after Richmond manhandled Chris Scott’s men in their qualifying final at the MCG last night.
YOU can say that the match shouldn’t have been played at the MCG because it gave an unfair advantage to Richmond.
You can say there should be no pre-finals bye and that the Cats don’t cope well after a week’s rest. You can say that not playing Daniel Menzel hurt Geelong’s ability to kick a winning score.
You can name any number of excuses for why the Cats could not match it with Richmond for the majority of the game last night.
But the simple fact is they were given a lesson in how to play finals football.
This was different to the shattering preliminary final loss to Sydney last year because, in effect, that match was over at quarter time.
But there were some similarities that Chris Scott and his coaching staff must have been shaking their heads at in the coaches’ box.
The lack of forward pressure when the ball hit the ground was alarming and Geelong’s inability to maintain possession inside-50 was, at times, embarrassing.
The Cats entered the game as the number one pressure team in the competition but that was nowhere to be seen for the bulk of the night.
Richmond’s consistent effort to tackle, chase, hunt and harass Geelong’s players all over the ground was a blueprint for teams that missed the eight on what is required to take the next step.
The signs were ominous early for the Cats when the Tigers had the first seven inside-50s of the match, but Geelong did well to withhold the early onslaught and the 12point margin at the first break was a far better position to be in than what it could otherwise have been.
Of most concern was its efficiency, or lack thereof, with the ball — the Cats had nine clangers in the opening term, and given they had averaged only 19 per game in 22 earlier matches, it was a disconcerting number.
In the early stages of the second quarter Richmond failed to capitalise on its opportunities in front of goal but when Kane Lambert scored to break the deadlock, it was clear that Geelong was in trouble.
With two minutes to play in the first half it was goalless and 21 points down, although the margin didn’t tell the story of just how dominant the Tigers had been until that point. A goal to Steven Motlop was followed up by some great work from Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield — who had combined for just four disposals for the quarter until that point — and when the 2016 Brownlow medallist put through Geelong’s second major within two minutes it made it a nine-point ball game at halftime.
The Cats then came out after the break and tried desperately to be more direct with the ball and some great teamwork resulted in James Parsons scoring from the goal square to make it three points.
But that was effectively where Geelong’s push for victory ended. Zach Guthrie had the chance to put the Cats in front, but his set-shot from inside 50 went right and tied the scores — the closest Geelong got.
Cam Guthrie went down with a calf injury soon after and Dustin Martin benefited greatly from his absence, with Nick Vlastuin and Shane Edwards both scoring goals in a matter of minutes.
Tom Hawkins answered back with a major of his own but Martin’s brilliance was on display again when he outmuscled Tom Stewart on the half back flank, allowing Richmond to run forward of the ball.
When Prestia found himself alone in the goal square to make it 13 points the Cats knew they would need to dig deep as they had done for so many last quarters throughout 2017, during which they had outscored the opposition by 266 points.
But the seven goals to one final term from Richmond put it on the path towards its first grand final since 1982 and consigned Geelong to the half of the draw it wanted so desperately to avoid.
In Geelong’s favour now is that the beauty of qualifying finals is they are the embodiment of Winston Churchill’s thoughts on triumph. The former British prime minister once said that success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
So while it may not have come out on top in last night’s bruising encounter, in the coming days it has the perfect opportunity to show it has the courage required to continue.
To show that the loss does not have to mean the end.
When the Cats face the winner of today’s elimination final between Sydney and Essendon next week, there will be an abundance of areas they will have to improve on from their performance against the Tigers. Chief among them will be the application of pressure.
But the double chance allows Geelong one more shot at earning a spot in the preliminary final.
The loss does not have to be fatal, and if it can overcome the Swans or the Bombers it will get a crack at Adelaide, who knows all too well that if it plays the Cats then the triumph it had against GWS could just be its final successful night of the year.