ATKINS HAPPY TO TAKE FOUR POINTS
GEELONG defender Tom Atkins conceded the Cats were lucky to walk away with the four premiership points on Friday night.
St Kilda’s first nine scores were behinds and it missed a number of easy set-shot chances in the first half to lead by only three points at the long break.
The Saints finished with 5.17, four more scoring shots than Geelong, but had to digest a 21-point defeat, also having won the clearances (68-60), hitouts (41-23) and tackles (86-62).
“We definitely didn’t play the way we would have liked, for sure,” Atkins said. “I think in the second half we got it on our terms a bit better, but we take those wins.
“I thought it was a wellfought-out win.”
The victory improved Geelong’s record to 6-3 before next weekend’s fixture against Gold Coast at GMHBA Stadium.
Atkins said the Cats remained positive at halftime.
“I knew they probably played as good as they could have and we definitely hadn’t played anywhere near our best,” he said.
“There was definitely a bit of positivity around that. Obviously they didn’t kick too straight in the first half and that helped us as well.
“I think we didn’t get it on our terms but we scrambled really well all day and obviously managed to scrape out the win.”
Atkins praised his side’s spirit in the second half to kick clear in the final quarter.
“I felt like in the first quarter, second quarter, it was just frantic up and back, and we weren’t able to get set behind the ball,” he said.
“I definitely reckon our mids did a great job of being stronger over the ball and fighting forward and it allowed our defenders to get set up behind the ball as well.
“We were able to control the game a bit better than we were in the first half.”