DUNCAN DESPERATE TO BOUNCE BACK

CAM MOONEYY ON WHY HE’S NOT WORRIED ABOUT CATS SLUMP

STAR Geelong midfielder Mitch Duncan says his side is desperate to make amends for what he described as a “sub-par” performance against the Western Bulldogs. Duncan, who conceded he had an off night in the 16-point loss at Marvel Stadium, said he and his teammates were eager to bounce back on Saturday night against St Kilda.

His comments come after an extensive review of the performance against the Dogs, the Cats’ second loss in three weeks.

“There are a few (takeaways), but I don’t want to give too many secrets away,” Duncan said.

“As a senior player, not delivering personally on what I wanted to — and a couple of my teammates have spoken about it — you just want to start playing again.

“We’ll work on those things, and we’ll continue to develop our game plan the best we can to go forward.

“Winning games is important at this time of year, let alone any time of the year.

“We’ll just focus on St Kilda this week back home, and work on a few things we need to fix.”

Collecting 19 disposals against the Bulldogs — well down on his previous three matches where he won 28 (Adelaide), 35 (Port Adelaide) and 34 (Richmond) touches — Duncan admitted he under-performed.

“I missed a couple (of targets) by hand … it wasn’t a great night, to be honest,” Duncan said.

“So, I’m looking forward to moving on and putting it behind me, and coming out and giving it my best shot against St Kilda.”

While the Cats were down in key areas, particularly late in the game, Duncan said the review uncovered plenty of positives.

“We still managed to restrict them scoring,” he said.

“Stoppages were really even. I think we won centre bounce (clearances), which is good. So, there definitely are positives with every game.

“But those negative things that can creep in, let’s not make them a habit, and rectify them against St Kilda.”

Duncan insists his teammates will not dwell on the loss.

“We need to ( move on) quickly. You don’t want to keep putting in those sub-par performances for too long — it’s a very important time of the year,” he said.

“We’re going to have changes in the team, and we need those guys coming in (and) playing important roles.”

Big man Esava Ratugolea appears likely to return from a hamstring strain, with Duncan saying the X-factor “straightens” the Cats up.

“I think that helps ‘ Hawk’ (Tom Hawkins) as well, and allows Hawk to stay closer to goal,” he said.

“But the game changes week-to-week (based on) who you play.

“Last we thought we probably didn’t need that second tall as much, but this week it might be different.

“Hopefully, Sav’s fit and puts his hand up. We have our main session on Wednesday, so if he gets through that well, I’d dare say he’d be in the squad.”

The clash against the Saints will have extra significance for Duncan and the Cats, who will wear orange-banded socks in support of the Just Think Round, the campaign against alcohol-fuelled violence.

“It’s something with our community programs we value really highly, and it won best community program last year,” said Duncan, a Just Think ambassador.

“So it speaks for itself with the people behind the scenes doing a really good job and getting the message out there.

“I think it’s a really important for kids and for parents to understand the effects alcohol can have on people, and the consequences.

“It’s getting the message out there. We’re not saying you can’t do it, but we’d prefer you to delay the process as long as possible for young kids, and hopefully make good decisions from there.”