Classy Giants prove
Class in front of goals a bridge too far for haphazard Geelong
CLASS at times can be an easy thing to overlook in football.
Ardent supporters will crow about the best players taking their chances or making something out of nothing, and the best teams generally follow suit.
Using the ball well and finishing off in front of goal was the difference between what looked like a good team and a great one on Saturday night.
While Geelong was admirable — and at times the better side in the contest — Greater Western Sydney’s class helped it to win 17.3 (105) to 11.7 (73).
The Giants barely seemed to miss a shot at goal all night and finished with an 85 per cent accuracy rate.
Good finishing is expected from stars such as Jeremy Cameron (three goals) and Toby Greene (four), but Harry Perryman (four) and Daniel Lloyd (two) were just as deadly around goal for the victors.
While Geelong’s kicking was accurate by normal standards, misses in the first half from the normally reliable Gary Ablett and Tom Hawkins, as well as Esava Ratugolea, showed the small gulf between the sides in front of the sticks.
After a slow start to the match in which the Cats conceded four of the first five goals, Geelong held sway for most of the second term to reduce the margin to six points.
As the Cats persisted and pushed forward in the final minute hoping to reduce that gap further, Ratugolea fum
H. Perryman, T. Greene 4, J. Cameron 3, D. Lloyd, S. Coniglio 2, J. Finlayson, Z. Langdon.
M. Duncan 3, T. Hawkins 2, G. Ablett, G. Miers, G. Rohan, L. Dahlhaus, M. O’Connor, P. Dangerfield.
T. Greene, H. Perryman, J. Hopper, N. Haynes, S. Coniglio.
M. Duncan, G. Ablett, L. Dahlhaus, P. Dangerfield, Z. Tuohy. bled an uncontested mark, which went the other way and Stephen Coniglio dribbled in a goal from well beyond 40m.
That touch of brilliance coming from an ugly mistake summed up the contest.
Geelong defensive coach Matthew Scarlett said before the game he expected the Giants to be the best side in the competition this season and it was hard to argue with him after such a silky effort.
WHILE the Cats will be bitterly disappointed by the way the game was taken from them, a performance like that would be enough to take the points on most evenings.
Any concerns about whether a lack of match fitness of Mitch Duncan and Joel Selwood would hurt the Cats were put to bed early.
No Giant could get near Duncan all night and the hardrunner finished with 21 touches and three goals in a vintage performance on the outside.
Skipper Joel Selwood didn’t look out of touch either, finishing with 16 possessions.
Even with Jack Steven missing the match due to soreness and Patrick Dangerfield well tagged by Matt de Boer, Geelong’s midfield acquitted themselves well and certainly weren’t blown off the park by a star-studded GWS outfit.
Jacob Hopper led the way for the winners with 22 possessions, while Lachie Whitfield (21 touches), Coniglio (19 and two goals) and Josh Kelly (18) typically persistent.
Big man Darcy Fort broke even with veteran Sam Jacobs in the ruck.
THE Cats’ coaching staff will continue to scratch their heads during the trip home.
All the numbers that are often used to tell the tale of a match were even.
Geelong had 16 more touches, three more inside-50s, four more contested possessions and two less turnovers.
GWS shaded the clearances by two, in one of the rare wins on the stats sheet.
Yet that class again bubbled to the surface, with the ball-use going into attack and the finishing of the Giants was just too good.
Played at Giants Stadium.