CATS DOWNED IN AFL DECIDER
CATS TO USE HITOUT AS LAUNCH PAD
GEELONG will use last night’s AFLX run to launch itself into the JLT Community Series as the clock ticks down to Round 1.
The Cats fell short of being crowned inaugural AFLX champions at Hindmarsh Stadium, going down to Adelaide by eight points in the grand final.
But defender Jed Bews said the 15 players who featured across the series would take plenty from the two pool games and decider.
“We will go back to training Saturday, resume our pre-season and look to get to the other stuff in a couple of weeks’ time, which should be good,” Bews said.
“For the guys to come over, we got a little bit out of it. We didn’t want to come over and just take part and leave, we wanted to get something out of it. We will come away better for the experience.
“You get plenty of fitness and skills out of that because you’re working hard out on the ground. And there’s a lot of kick-marking, which is good for the skill work.”
The Cats start their JLT series with a road trip to play Gold Coast in Townsville on March 4 before returning to Victoria to play Essendon in Colac on March 11.
They will open their homeand-away season against Melbourne at the MCG on March 25.
Geelong started its night with a 12-point victory over Port Adelaide, becoming the first team to win an AFLX match.
The Cats then recorded a 17- point win over Fremantle, locking in a playoff with Adelaide.
But the Crows got the jump in the grand final with two Zooper goals in the first minute, opening up an early 20-point buffer.
Geelong finished off the match strongly and was still a winning chance in the dying moments, but couldn’t snare a crucial Zooper goal to put the heat on Adelaide.
Bews said he was satisfied with Geelong’s performance across the three matches.
“It was open and pretty quick. A bit quicker than what we experienced in training, but enjoyable,” Bews said.
“We started to get an understanding of how teams played and it was just about trying to adapt as quickly as we could.
“We didn’t do that against Adelaide ... but we got ourselves back into it and gave ourselves a shot, which was good.”
The Cats handed games to 2017 draftees Tim Kelly, Gryan Miers and Lachie Fogarty.
And while the AFL’s hybrid game was a far cry from real, senior footy, Bews believed the young trio would benefit from the experience.
“All three of them, I can see them all smiling and laughing, they had a good night,” he said. “They came across, experienced the travel and how it all works, so it was good for them to get that too.”
AFLX action continues tonight with Carlton, Melbourne, North Melbourne, Hawthorn, St Kilda and Essendon in action in Melbourne.
The matches, played at Etihad Stadium, start at 6.40pm.