Geelong Cats v Gold Coast Suns
Old School Money v Nuovo Riche
Disco Monagle
Preamble
It saddened my heart when I heard Geelong’s ‘Toy Boy’, the always entertaining, Bailey ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ Smith withdrew minutes before the match started. Given the weather I really don’t blame Smith, or any player, for not wanting to play in the very wet, slippery Arctic conditions at GMHBA Stadium.
Anybody who has ever played a game of footy on a wet, dreary day, with strong winds blowing up from the south, and the temperature hovering somewhere around zero (or at least feeling that way), knows how hard it is to even get motivated in such conditions. If memory serves me correctly, a mere flick of the ball on outstretched finger would hurt like hell.
Anyway, the conditions are what they are, and while the Cats often play in such conditions, the new kids on the block from up north rarely get the opportunity to play in such extremes of weather.
The Game
Geelong 5:3:33 / 4:4:28 / 6:7:43 / 9:7:61 defeated Gold Coast 2:1:13 / 3:3:21 / 4:3:27 / 5:7:37
Goals:
Cats: Stengle 4, Close 1, Atkins 1, Dempsey 1, Humphries 1. Miers 1
Suns: Humphrey 1, King 1, Walter 1, Long 1, Rowell 1
Best:
Cats: Holmes, Stengle, Miers, Atkins, Stewart, Connor, Guthrie
Suns: Jeffrey, Andrew, Fiorini, Powell, Rowell, Miller
Hardened Bodies
Geelong is a seasoned, tough, combative team in all weather conditions, with battled-hardened bodies, and an attitude of the tougher the conditions, the harder they will contest. At the other end of the spectrum is the flash, classy, brash Gold Coast Suns. In a nutshell, the Cats gave the Suns a lesson as to what they must do to get to the next level, and bridge the gap to the teams who are genuine flag contenders – if they want to be a contender, themselves.
The Geelong Football Club are one of the oldest sporting teams, not just in the AFL but internationally with a culture rich in history, while the Gold Coast Suns are the youngest team in the AFL with a still evolving culture.
So why is this relevant?
Ever since Mark Yeates ran through Dermott Brereton in the 1989 Grand Final, the Cats have basically lived in the upper echelons of the competition, including adding four premierships to their trophy cabinet in the process, while blooding new players to ensure they remain relevant. Each new generation of Cat player is toughened up by the players who come before them, and as a result they are match ready, no matter how hard the conditions.
The Cats are like a Sara Lee cake, with layer upon layer forever building and improving their list, while the Suns are a souffle, delightfully sweet when cooked properly, but a lot can, and often does, go wrong in the preparation.
The Suns are only now putting together a list able to match it with the big boys, while introducing new players to the list. At a wet and cold GMHBA Stadium cauldron, the Suns were exposed, not as being pretenders, but rather a club that needs to learn how to go to the next level in physicality.
Geelong outmuscled and outsmarted the Suns in the wet, and the four-goal winning margin truly reflected the gap between the two teams.
Stewart, Holmes, Miers, Atkins, and a few other tough nuts in the hoops tackled and crunched the Suns players in a manner they would have rarely felt before, if ever. To the Suns credit, not one player took a backward step. Sam Collins, Jarrod Witts, John Noble and Matt Rowell aside, the Cats physical presence and superior physicality won the day.
Stewart’s gut buster bump on Anderson in the last quarter was brutal, but fair, and it ruled Anderson out for the rest of the game. I will spew up if Tom is given holiday for his last quarter hip and shoulder.
(I just heard Jack Riewoldt and David King debating if he should be rubbed out, and stating he needs to change his game. What a croc of poo! What Stewart did was well within the rules, and players should never be discouraged from having a bit of ‘fair play’ mongrel in their armoury.)
The Class of the Cats
On a day when Jezza and Danger had little to no impact on the game, Holmes, Stengle, Dempsey, Miers and Atkins stood up and demonstrated how deep the class in the Cats list goes.
Max Holmes had 40 possessions for the game and 892 metres gained. In a game which demanded endurance and stamina, Holmes ran his opponents into the ground while it looked like he was playing on a dry ground. Holmes was ably backed by Miers and Atkins, who just ran and outran their opponents all day.
I would be remiss not to mention Shaun Mannagh, a mature age player who silently goes about his business, improving each week. Mannagh has gone from a player who would be discussed each by the selection committee at the Cattery to a player who now demands his place in the team.
Oliver Dempsey is my second favourite Geelong player. He runs and moves like Bambi, all arms and legs, but that belies his ability to be a versatile player who can run the wings, drift forward to kick a goal or three, and take some ‘fully sick’ contested marks.
Hats off to Tyson Stengle who kicked four goals on a day when goals were hard to come by. Stengle is already a Premiership player and while he doesn’t receive the accolades of some of his more salubrious teammates he will go down as a Geelong great to the Cats supporters when his career finishes.
D Day for the Suns
The Suns have had a great start to the year, and with early success, the expectations for the remainder of the year grows. However, in the dark winter months of the season, the Suns now face their biggest challenge in the history of the club. Eight wins and four losses looks good on paper, as it did for the Bombers last year (they were second on the ladder this time last year), but as one loss begets two losses and so on, the demons in the head will start screaming.
The Suns have a bye and then tough games against the GWS and the Demons the following fortnight. The Suns need a win a two in the next month just to keep the head talk in check.
Geelong are Geelong, so they will keep doing what Geelong does best, winning games, to wit they should do next weekend against the Bombers.
A Few Quickies
A mammoth 131 hit outs in this game, with Jarrod Witts having 61. That puts the big fella into the top 20 for hit outs in a single game. Todd Goldstein holds the record with 80.
Speaking of records, only the seven tackles for Tom Atkins today, as he continues to head toward the all-time tackles record in a single season. He is such a heart-and-soul player at this club, and would have made a great selection as captain at one stage. Of course, going from Selwood to Danger… that made it a little difficult.
Speaking of Danger, he had a very quiet day, but there were moments where he got a head of steam, and it took everything the Suns had to slow him down. When you draw heat like that, it opens up opportunities for others, particularly up forward. Seven touches and five of them were score involvements.
Not a great night for key forwards, so Jeremy Cameron and Ben King get passes.
Jed Walter will come under some scrutiny for a late and high hit on Mark O’Connor. It looked like a cross between a late tackle and a swinging arm. He was having a frustrating day, and this was the result. It could be a big price to pay for a bit of frustration.
This might have been the first game in a while where Ben Long was unable to will himself into a contest and change the game. He finished with just eight touches, but did manage to hit the scoreboard, finishing with 1.2.
Holmes finished one contested possession away from a 40-20-10 game, finishing with 40 disposals, 19 contested possessions, and ten clearances. I am not sure there has been a clearer best-on-ground performance at Geelong this season.
Not my best review but written while suffering a terrible cold and migraine headache, so cut me some slack – nah just joking, if you want to have a crack at something written we at The Mongrel Punt encourage you to do so.
Happy King’s Day – is that a thing?
