When I offered to write on this game, my brain went instantly to Hagrid’s voice saying “I should not have said that.” I try to avoid writing on Cats games – makes it easy to avoid bias, and we (Geelong) tend to not turn up when I write. So, the Hawks boys mainly in the chat made sure I am writing on it. I’m nervous.
I have no idea what an Engie is, alas, at ENGIE Stadium on a sunny Saturday afternoon the orange team host the Cotton On team in a match up that has fallen the Giants way in recent years. These two sides have not played at ENGIE Stadium against each other since the opening round (round one back then) of CovidBall 2020. The Giants took that one. Since then, the Cats last won at Manuka Oval in 2022, dropping the last three against the Giants.
The Cats regain Bailey Smith, while the Giants regain Jesse Hogan. Both teams can turn it on, kick big scores, and move the ball at speed. Will the orange tsunami look to take the four points for Lachie Whitfield in game 250, and entrench themselves in the top eight? Or will the Cats FIFO and steal the four points in Jezza’s 100th for the Cats and put some distance between them and the team in fifth?
Here’s what happened.
Fast Start
The Cats had three quick goals, plus intense pressure, giving the Giants limited space. And that was about the only time in the game where it was genuinely played on Geelong’s terms. The Giants were able to equalise, absorb the pressure, and then start applying a high level of pressure, themselves. Sometimes teams can blow their opponents away with the fast start, but you need it to last more than about five minutes and be more than three goals. The Giants turned the second quarter into an arm wrestle and then flexed in the second half.
Pressure is Underrated
Some people might consider that a perplexing comment. We all know how much of an impact good pressure has on a game of footy. And particularly in the first half, we saw clear swings and team dominance that aligned with who was putting on the most pressure. It went a little like this:
Q1 – mostly Geelong; as above, the Cats jumped the Giants, but then the pressure was balanced by the end of the term.
Q2 – Giants all over the Cats early. 10-0 inside 50’s, four goals in opening ten mins (7-0 clearances) and if not for a couple of late Cats goals, this would have been a bigger win.
Ultimately, the team who controlled the pressure game, controlled the scoreboard during that dominance. Geelong tried to get some momentum at various points, maybe kicking back-to-back goals, but Kieren Briggs and company, in the middle, were really good at quashing that. A big shout out to Briggs – after no hit outs in the first quarter, he became one of the more influential players on the field with his ruck craft, and throwing his body around.
Darcy Jones, Ryan Angwin, and Xavier O’Halloran were all players who seemingly had run with roles or were tasked with putting pressure on, and they were exceptional all day.
In the Contest
Q2 was all the Giants on the back of Briggs’ involvement (0 hit outs in Q1, started to dominate). The Giants won seven of eight centre clearances kicking 2.1 to 0.0 in Q2.
There was a clear advantage at stoppages in favour of GWS (43-31 clearances, 20-13 centre clearances) as the Giants were dominant across the board with clearances. The Geelong mids struggled to get their hands on the ball throughout the game and that gave the Giants field position dominance. It also allowed them, having won the ball at the contest, to then get the ball to the outside and spread. Finn Callaghan, in particular, was exceptional, meshing his inside game with his burst and outside run to really impact the game.
From a defensive perspective, Jack Buckley, under a fitness cloud prior to the game, did a great job primarily on Cats skipper Patrick Dangerfield who had a night to forget and cost the Cats goals a couple of times. Danger seemed desperate to get involved, and took advantage at the wrong time, only to under deliver with his shot at goal, as well as his set shot goal kicking. Buckley did impact Danger’s ability to win the footy, but some of Danger’s misses were on Danger. Buckley mostly impacted in marking contests, with Danger getting some space when the ball was on the ground.
Next Gen Key Position Players
Aleer v Neale
– some soft adjudicating Aleer’s way early (Four free kicks against on Neale in Q1 made it look like Aleer was dominant)
Cadman v O’Sullivan
– both were fumbly early, but had moments; the 2nd & 3rd efforts from O’Sullivan were very good.
Those were my early notes about these contests – clashes we will see for a decade to come. The longer the game went, the more the game swung in favour of the forwards. Cadman, in particular, was the game breaker in Q3, kicking four goals himself in that term. And you could see how that confidence – both marking and crumbing – fed into his game. He then flew for everything in the final term and had O’Sullivan infringing in Q4 because of the pressure Cadman was putting on him. COS still had moments, but Cadman took the chocolates with his career and game high six goals.
Neale started slow, and partly down to the infringements against him early, his head was down. But, he built into the game. He may have only touched the ball seven times, however his 5.0 was team high and equal career high. Aleer didn’t have the same impact after the first quarter – make of that what you will with the four frees he got – so Neale gets the win in that contest.
What I loved about all four of them were the second efforts, and always wanting to fly for the ball. Neale was one of the few Cats to successfully run down Darcy Jones, emphasising his physical attributes that set him apart from other big forwards.
How good to see some big forwards kicking bags and taking contested marks. Here’s to a decade or more of watching these four future stars taking contested marks and having game winning moments.
Other Things
Shaun Mannagh is one of the great footy stories. Plucked from Werribee in the 2023 draft, he has shown a willingness to fight hard, to hit the scoreboard, and has become an essential cog in the Geelong machine. There was more of that today, including kicking the opening goal inside 30 seconds, breaking into space at the top of the 50 like he does so well!
Darcy Jones – his run-down tackles and positioning. He uses his leg speed to create space and harass. In the second quarter, he was everywhere. Those are my notes, and reflect the reality. The kid with the lid was fantastic when the game was in the balance. He was able to consistently put himself in the right spots.
Ryan Angwin – numerous times going back with the flight and his tackle pressure. He had the unenviable job of running with Ollie Dempsey on the wing, and plied his trade really well. Dempsey had moments, but didn’t have significant influence, and that was, in part, because of Angwin’s close checking.
Not a great advert for the umpiring of the game today. Numerous questionable decisions (Shannon Neale mark out of bounds, the non-HTB for Shaun Mannagh as examples) and inconsistent in-game interpretations. Andrew Dillon can say as much as he wants that the umpires are good and better than ever, but it’s clear that that is not the case.
A shout out to Jack Henry for his composure in defense and the job he did mostly on Jesse Hogan, but on Jake Riccardi as well at times. He made life more difficult for them both than during the previous meeting that Henry missed. He has low-key put together a fantastic season.
What Did We Learn?
Giants – I don’t necessarily think we learned anything new about the Giants, but we were reminded of how good they are. When their contest and clearance game is working, when they can get quick movement inside 50, they are a legitimate threat. With Jesse Hogan having limited influence, and Tom Green a little below his best, the likes of Aaron Cadman and Darcy Jones stepped up to have significant impact on the contest and shape the fortunes of their side. The big question on the Giants is their consistency, but given the results they’ve had in recent weeks, perhaps they are starting to hum at the right time of the year.
Cats – I thought the Brisbane performance was bad. This could be worse, and highlights some trends in the team’s deficiencies. Effort was an issue, turnovers were an issue, and just a seeming lack of synergy was an issue. It’s not quite panic stations, but there are some legitimate concerns that need to be addressed, some players dropped, and some young blokes in the VFL having their form rewarded (and George Stevens needs to keep his spot). Geelong have shown in recent weeks they can’t stop sides well enough when momentum is against them, and they need to do some significant work at clearances, as the Giants had moments of procession out of the centre.
The Giants were fantastic today. They weathered an early Cats storm, wrestled back control, and then blew the game open in the second half. It was a professional performance, where they came with a plan and executed, and took away the Cats’ ability to play the game on their terms. The Cats were pretty bad, making bad mistakes and their disposal efficiency in the front half was woeful, opening themselves up to be hit on turnover. The Giants were too good and now look ahead to Thursday Night at Marvel against the Bombers (why are the Dons getting so much Prime Time footy?) while the Cats can lick their wounds before hosting the Saints in the early Sunday game at Cat Park.
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